Arsenal are set to enter a critical period of what could turn out to be a hugely successful season, and Mikel Arteta is subsequently devising potential plans to increase his team’s chances of silverware.
The Gunners sit pretty at the top of the Premier League table with 12 matches left to play, while a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City awaits, as well as last-16 ties in both the FA Cup and the Champions League. Competing on all four fronts means that Arteta’s outfit could finish the campaign having played upwards of 65 matches across all competitions – an unprecedented number of fixtures for the north Londoners.
Although Arteta and Andrea Berta took measures in the summer to protect Arsenal’s squad from burnout, players are still dropping like flies in the midst of this congested schedule. Arteta confirmed that Martin Odegaard will not feature against Wolves on Wednesday, while the likes of Kai Havertz, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori continue to struggle with injury issues.
Mikel Arteta to consider scrapping pre-match warm-ups
Players dropping out of the starting eleven in the pre-match warm-up is becoming something of a recurring theme for Arsenal this term. Riccardo Calafiori was the latest to fall victim when he was withdrawn from the Gunners’ team to face Wigan on the weekend, while Bukayo Saka missed out on the clash with Leeds last month for the same reason.
Seeking to address this problem, Arteta issued an unconventional revelation in his press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking to the media, the Spaniard claimed that he’d consider scrapping the pre-game warm-up altogether.
“It [players sustaining injuries in the warm-up] probably happened once or twice I think in six years that I’ve been here, and now it happened four times [this season],” he said.
“So obviously we are looking into it. I can feel it in my body. I’m more aware of it. So in the office at the moment I hear my door, and somebody is stepping in and I’m like: ‘No, please’.
“It makes you a better coach because you have to be: ‘What-if, what-if’. And there are more and more what-ifs just before the game, and then a lot during the game.
“I was a player as well, and we like sets and routines, and that’s the way you tell your body as well. It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming.
“And to change that sometimes is tricky. It’s a really good area to have a look at what will happen if we don’t do the warm-up.
“Because then at half-time, we go at half-time and we sit almost for 15 minutes, and then we go full gas again in the second half. So, yes, maybe something to think about.”
The pre-match warm-up has been an ever-present feature in football since its inception, so it would certainly be against the grain for Arteta to ditch it. Whether the sports science department at London Colney approves of this radical change remains to be seen, but Arsenal fans bemoaning their club’s fitness issues certainly wouldn’t be avidly against it.
Arsenal aren’t actually in a bad position injury-wise
Although the general perception might be that Arsenal are currently stricken with injuries across their squad, their current fitness situation could certainly be a lot worse.
Merino is the only long-term absentee, with the Euro 2024 winner not expected to feature again this season. Aside from that, Havertz, Odegaard and Calafiori are the only players currently battling with their bodies, and all three could feature in Sunday’s North London Derby.
| Injured Players | Reported Return Date |
| Mikel Merino | 01/06/2026 |
| Kai Havertz | 22/02/2026 |
| Martin Odegaard | 22/02/2026 |
| Max Dowman | 22/02/2026 |
In comparison to some of their rivals, Arsenal’s squad is actually in great shape. Tottenham Hotspur currently have 12 first team players sidelined with various issues, while Liverpool have four players out until late March.
That said, Arsenal are preparing to go big in the transfer window once again this summer, with injury scars of previous years clearly prompting Arteta to acquire as many options as possible.
