Mikel Arteta has revealed that Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber will be fit for Arsenal’s Premier League opener against Wolves.
Two defenders, Calafiori and Jurrien Timber, scored Oleksandr Zinchenko in the Gunners’ pre-season thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen 4-1. Leandro Trossard,Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz missed both defenders who were targeted.
Arteta allayed fears, saying “With Jurrien, it’s obvious he’s had discomfort in his leg the last few days and we don’t want him out for a long time. As for Riccardo, he’s been through a lot in the week.”He’s coming to a new environment with different techniques, different training, and I want to gradually improve. I hope he can play a few minutes on Sunday.”
Arteta insists Bukayosaka and Declanson must be ready for the new campaign despite concerns over their England squad for Euro 2024. “The season starts in nine or 10 days,” the Spaniard said.These are the demands they have.They don’t want to lose the fire in their eyes.”Later, he said,”They’ll tell us how they’re doing. How you throw down and deal with everybody.
They’ll know what they’ve got
He was involved a minute after left-back Zinchenko opened the scoring when Leverkusen’s ball into the bottom corner in the eighth minute, when Troiss completed a stunning team move that set the pace.
It was 3-0 before the break. Adam Hlozek scored the fourth when Jesus broke through Leverkusen’s defense and slotted home from 20 yards when Jesus intercepted the ball near the halfway line.