Riccardo Calafiori injury timeframe confirmed after Arsenal handed midfielder boost

Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori is set to miss several weeks of action after sustaining a knee injury during the Gunners' 3-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night, LondonWorld understands.

The Italian was forced off in the 72nd minute, and subsequent scans revealed a minor injury to his medial collateral ligament (MCL). While it’s a setback, the former Bologna man is expected to be available within the next few weeks.

“He had to come off because he felt something,” Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said after the match. “I don’t know the extent of it, so in that sense, it's not great news.”

In brighter news for the north Londoners, Arteta confirmed that defender Ben White is not suffering from any injuries. White was substituted after receiving a yellow card, with Arteta explaining the decision: “It was my decision to take him out. He had a yellow card, and we’ve played enough with 10 men recently. They [Shakhtar] had a lot of players on that side, so I didn’t want to take any chances.”

LondonWorld also understands that Bukayo Saka is in contention to feature in Arsenal’s crucial Premier League clash against Liverpool on Sunday.

In addition, captain Martin Ødegaard is making good progress on his recovery from injury. The Norwegian playmaker is expected to return to first-team action before the international break in November, with Norway boss Stale Solbakken hopeful of calling him up for their upcoming fixtures against Slovenia and Kazakhstan.

“Everything indicates that things are going according to plan,” Solbakken told VG. “It’s about the final steps, like training with opponents and in team sessions. It depends on how he responds to that, but we have a legitimate hope that he will be ready.”