Jurrien Timber left out of Netherlands’ provisional squad for Nations League matches next month, casting doubt on his involvement in Arsenal’s Premier League against Liverpool on Sunday
- Jurrien Timber has missed all Arsenal games since the international break
- The 23-year-old has been in impressive form for the Gunners this season
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Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has been excluded from the Netherlands’ provisional squad for the upcoming Nations League matches next month.
Timber has not played for the Gunners since the last international break and his exclusion from the Dutch squad cast doubt over his involvement in Arsenal’s big Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday.
Prior to this setback, the 23-year-old was a mainstay in Mikel Arteta’s starting unit and impressed for the north London club, having returned to full fitness this season following a knee problem that essentially ruled him out of his entire debut campaign . .
His absence against the Reds would leave Arteta with another selection headache as the likes of Bukayo Saka and Riccardo Calafiori also face a race against time to get fit for the clash in the Emirates.
Ahead of the match, Arteta remained coy about the defender’s progress and refused to rule him out of the game completely.
Jurrien Timber has been excluded from the provisional selection of the Netherlands for the upcoming Nations League matches
Mikel Arteta refused to rule out the 23-year-old from their upcoming match against Liverpool
“He had the first session where he could have any involvement.” The Spaniard told reporters. ‘He’s been out for a while. “We expected him to be further back than where he is now, but again, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Liverpool arrive in London with the chance to extend a seven-point lead over the Gunners with a win. The Reds are currently top of the table and are in impressive form under new head coach Arne Slot.
Arsenal have had to do without Saka for the last two games; a defeat and a narrow win, and the Gunners boss will be acutely aware of what his side will miss if they take the field without the England star.
Arteta was able to share some good news for Gunners supporters about Saka as he revealed the winger has been able to take part in training.
‘He (Saka) trained a bit on the grass. How far we can get him before Sunday is another question. We have one more day and that’s a good thing, because this week we had an extra day. We’ll see.’ He said.
Arsenal will be without William Saliba, who was handed a one-match ban following his red card in the 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth last weekend, while Martin Odegaard is not expected back until after the international break.
The Gunners are also sweating over the fitness of Bukayo Saka, who suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with England
Arsenal will be without William Saliba for the visit of Liverpool after his red card in the 2-0 defeat against Bournemouh last weekend
Timber missed a Dutch squad with several Premier League stars, including Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Matthjis de Light.
Ronald Koeman’s team will play against Hungary on November 16 and against Bosnia and Herzegovina three days later.
