Mikel Arteta demands Arsenal ‘get on with it’ amid selection problems

Mikel Arteta has challenged his depleted Arsenal squad to “show their teeth” and “how much they want it” ahead of Liverpool’s crunch visit to the Emirates on Sunday.

The Gunners face being without a host of top stars for a fixture which could prove pivotal in the club’s bid to win their first Premier League title in two decades.

Captain Martin Odegaard and defender William Saliba will definitely miss Sunday’s clash through injury and suspension respectively, while Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori are also injury doubts.

There is hope that Saka, absent for the last two matches with a hamstring problem he sustained playing for England, could be available.

But addressing his selection woes, Arteta said: “I love watching individuals and teams react to that. It is a down look? I hate it. I haven’t seen it in the staff, I haven’t seen it upstairs, I haven’t seen anyone talk about it.

“Get on with it. Show your teeth. Show how much you want it. This means opportunities for other people, and opportunities for us as a team to rebel against certain situations.

“When you lose your captain, that’s a big thing. When you lose your central defender, a full-back, and another full-back, a striker, and a winger, the team has to have the resources. First of all mentally to adapt to that and then maintain the same belief that even like this we’re a great team.”

Arsenal’s surprise 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth last weekend – their first loss of the season so far – sees them trail Liverpool by four points.

Arsenal v Liverpool. Third hosts first. Unmissable