Mikel Arteta explains importance of Christos Tzolis injury boost for Liverpool clash

Tzolis returns from a month-long hamstring injury to start for Arsenal at Liverpool, though Arteta had to recall him sooner than planned due to other absences.

Christos Tzolis made his return from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for six games, starting for Arsenal in their visit to Liverpool on Sunday. The Greek winger had been out since suffering the injury on international duty at the start of last month. Arteta acknowledged he was forced to bring Tzolis back sooner than ideal, telling Sky Sports: "We had some other issues after Tuesday. We need to be smart how we manage minutes today. The conditions and the context forced me to make some decisions." Arsenal's attacking options had been further depleted by Bukayo Saka's injury against Bayern Munich, which will keep him out for up to eight weeks, and Max Dowman's red card in the Carabao Cup exit to Fleetwood.

For Liverpool, Dominik Szoboszlai returned to the squad after missing four of the last five games with a thigh injury, though manager Andoni Iraola opted to start him on the bench. Iraola regretted starting Szoboszlai two weeks earlier at Brentford, when the Hungarian was forced off before half-time with a recurrence of the injury. "He was desperate to start," Iraola said. "After the Brentford game we probably went too early. We have been a bit more cautious and he will have to go through the process today he probably plays in the second half."