Arsenal star injured in warm-up as Arteta forced into late change | Football | Sport

Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori pulled out of the team after getting injured in the warm-up before the Gunners’ FA Cup tie with Wigan. The Italian had been named in the starting line-up for the fourth-round clash, but picked up a late issue while they were preparing for the match.

Bukayo Saka, who only recently returned from injury himself, was drafted into the team from the substitutes’ bench. Myles Lewis-Skelly had been expected to start in midfield, but was forced to return to left-back to cover for Calafiori while Saka played an unusual central role.

Arsenal wrote on social media: “Saka has replaced Calafiori in the starting lineup and will now captain the side. Ceadach O’Neill has also been called up to the bench.”

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Noni Madueke remained on the right flank and he opened the scoring in the 11th minute, latching onto a through ball from Eberechi Eze before firing past Sam Tickle in the Wigan goal.

The Gunners will be disappointed that Calafiori cannot be called upon, as he was expected to take a step forward in his rehabilitation from a muscle injury.

The 23-year-old made the left-back position his own earlier in the season, with Mikel Arteta praising his versatility in December.

“What he didn’t do before [coming to Arsenal] is play as a full-back, so we brought him in because we believe that he could do both of them [centre-back and full-back],” Arteta said on Boxing Day.

Since returning to training late last month, Calafiori has played just 127 minutes across five matches, two of which were starts. Piero Hincapie has impressed in his place of late.

The news will come as another blow for Arsenal, who are without Mikel Merino for a significant period after he underwent surgery on his foot.

Kai Havertz suffered a setback in an injury-hit season for the German and is likely to miss next weekend’s North London Derby with Tottenham also.

Captain Martin Odegaard missed the cup tie with Wigan after picking up a knock in the 1-0 win over Brentford, but is not thought to face an extended spell out. William Saliba also recovered from illness to start against the Latics.