Mikel Arteta confirms fresh Arsenal injury blow after Liverpool win - "It's incredible"

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Eberechi Eze is struggling with an unspecified fitness problem.

The England international was surprisingly not named in the starting XI to face Liverpool in Sunday's Premier League clash, which Christos Tzolis was given the nod for shortly after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Tzolis had not played an Arsenal game since before the September/October international break, but he was a livewire on the left, forcing Alisson Becker into a strong save down low and completing three progressive carries.

The Greece international completed 84 minutes of the contest before being replaced by Piero Hincapie as Arsenal sought to protect a 1-0 lead, which they did to secure their first league win at Anfield since 2012.

Eze was an unused substitute throughout the encounter, though, and speaking to reporters in his post-game press conference, Arteta confirmed that the attacker was not 100% fit while simultaneously giving Tzolis and the medical staff their dues.

Mikel Arteta reveals Eberechi Eze "issue" after Arsenal beat Liverpool

"It’s the energy that he had in training," Arteta replied when asked why he decided to throw Tzolis back into the side. "When I asked him the question, how convinced he was. We had an issue with Ebs as well, it was incredible that he was in the squad today.

"I want to give credit to all the medical and performance team. What they are doing with those boys is incredible. Every three days, to keep everybody at this level.

"These are the margins sometimes when you win a football match, whether you have somebody available or not. They deserve that credit. With Christos, incredible. He didn’t want to come off, he wanted to complete the game. We took some risks, but at a point we decided enough was enough."

Arteta did not go into further detail about Eze's fitness issue, and it is not yet clear if the 28-year-old is a doubt for Wednesday's Champions League league-phase showdown against Slavia Prague.

Eze was brought on as a second-half substitute in Tuesday's EFL Cup fourth-round loss to Fleetwood Town, and he has registered a total of two goals and one assist from 12 games in all tournaments this term.

Both of the Englishman's goals have come in the Champions League against Lille and Bayern Munich, and he is still waiting for his first direct involvement in the 2026-27 Premier League season.

Arsenal to receive another team news boost for Slavia Prague

Tzolis's return was one of four fitness boosts Arsenal received for their trip to Liverpool, as Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Riccardo Calafiori also overcame minor knocks to make themselves available.

Arteta will also welcome teenage sensation Max Dowman back for Wednesday's game against Slavia Prague, as the 16-year-old's three-game ban for his red card at Fleetwood only applies to domestic games.

However, Bukayo Saka (quad) and William Saliba (back) are both still out, although the latter may be given the green light to return soon after the November international break.