Mikel Arteta confirms fresh Arsenal injury blow ahead of Fulham

Mikel Arteta has confirmed Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori is set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury on international duty with Italy.

The 22-year-old picked up the injury in Italy's 2-1 defeat to Germany in the Nations League quarter-final first leg on March 20. The former Bologna man missed the second leg three days later as a result and returned to London early, where he was assessed by Gunners medical staff.

Now, ahead of Arsenal's Premier League clash with Fulham on Tuesday, Arteta confirmed Calafiori will be missing for "a matter of weeks". Speaking to the media, Arteta said: "Yeah, well, Ricardo unfortunately picked up an injury again with the national team.

"Really unfortunate the way it happened. It could have been much worse. So hopefully it's going to be a matter of weeks. But we'll have to see how that injury evolves."

He added: "Knee injury, yes. Yeah, two injuries. They were picked up with the national team. One was a kick and the other one is a really bad turn twist when he slips with the surface. And the other one was muscular. But I mean, the main two injuries that he had, very little to do, very unfortunate."

Calafiori, who joined Arsenal in the summer in a deal worth up to £42million, has made 26 appearances in his debut season in north London. He has suffered with his fair share of injuries and has struggled to cement a regular place in the starting XI, partly due to the form of Myles Lewis-Skelly.

In more positive news for Arsenal, Bukayo Saka will return to the matchday squad against Marco Silva's men after a positive couple of weeks training. The Hale Ender has been missing since December after picking up a serious hamstring injury against Crystal Palace.

Saka, though, is fit and available again, according to Arteta. "Bukayo is ready to go," Arteta confirmed. "Well, the careful thing is already done. So now it's about putting him in the grass in the right moments. But he's pushing because he really wants it. We have respected the time frame, we have done everything and we have to hold him back even. So he's ready to go."

Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are Arsenal's long term absentees and will not return until next season. The Gunners are currently 12 points behind league leaders Liverpool but a win against Fulham on Tuesday could reduce that gap to nine, with Liverpool facing Everton on Wednesday.

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