Arsenal dealt early defensive injury blow during Liverpool clash

The personnel woes facing Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta have continued to mount on Thursday evening.

Anfield showdown

The Gunners are of course currently locked in action, at Anfield.

After being ousted from the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion at the hands of Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Arteta’s troops travelled to Merseyside, hoping for better luck in the first-leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final showdown with Liverpool.

Arsenal headed into proceedings aware that a triumph (over two legs) would set up a finale showdown with capital rivals Chelsea, who made short work of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham on Wednesday to book their own spot at Wembley.

🎙️ “@ToniRuediger takes a giant leap towards Wembley!” 🏟️#EFL | #CarabaoCup | @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/5ThcKOkgwW

— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) January 13, 2022

Early in the action on Thursday evening, the scoreline remains goalless, albeit with hosts Liverpool looking much the more threatening of the two sides.

Cedric limps off

And, as alluded to above, adding to Arsenal’s woes during the opening exchanges at Anfield has been an altogether untimely blow on the personnel front.

With the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe, Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe already unavailable for selection, yet another fresh face was added to the list of walking wounded at the Emirates.

The player in question? Cedric Soares.

Inside ten minutes, Portuguese stopper Cedric, handed a rare start this evening in the absence of the aforementioned Tomiyasu, went to ground with what appeared to be a hip issue.

In turn, after being tended to by Arsenal’s medical team, it was eventually decided that the former Southampton man was in no condition to continue, with Calum Chambers swiftly introduced in his place.

We’ve been forced into an early change…

↩️ @OficialCedric
🔛 @CalumChambers95

🔴 0-0 ⚡️ (11)

🏆 #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/8jV9y6GQ0Z

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 13, 2022

Liverpool vs Arsenal live streaming: Watch Carabao Cup semi-final first leg online

Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli beats out competition to bag Premier League award

---