Arteta investigates Arsenal warm-ups after pre-match injury spate

Mikel Arteta said he is looking at Arsenal’s warm-up routines "big time" as he seeks an explanation for why his title-chasing players keep pulling up before matches. Riccardo Calafiori dropped out of the lineup for the FA Cup tie against Wigan last Sunday after sustaining an injury in the warm-up, the second time it has happened to the player, and the fourth time in the season overall.

Arteta said he was confident the Italian would be available against Wolves on Wednesday but said the club were "looking into" their pre-match habits. The incidents have been varied. "The first time was Willy [Saliba] rolling his ankle against Liverpool, then we had two incidents with Ricky [Calafiori] in the warm-up in a very similar way, then one with Bukayo [Saka] after he was rested in midweek – didn’t play against Kairat Almaty – then against Leeds he has an incident," Arteta said.

"It’s very unusual. I think it’s only happened once or twice in the six [previous] years I’ve been here. But it’s happened four times this year.

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