PNE host the Gunners in the Carabao Cup next week

Arsenal have been dealt a worrying injury scare over defender Riccardo Calafiori, one week before their trip to Preston North End.

In Tuesday night’s Champions League win over Shakthar Donetsk - which the Gunners won 1-0 - the Italian was forced off the pitch in the second half. Calafiori, who signed from Bologna in the summer, landed awkwardly and appeared to jar his knee.

The 22-year-old tried to continue in the game, following treatment from Arsenal’s physio, but had to eventually be replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly. Mikel Arteta’s team host Liverpool this weekend, before the Carabao Cup visit to Deepdale. The Arsenal boss will wait to learn the extent of Calafiori’s issue.

When asked about taking fellow defender Ben White off at half time, Arteta said: “This was my decision to take him out. He had a yellow card, and we have played enough with 10 men in recent periods.

“They had a lot of density on that side, a lot of attacking players on that side, and I didn’t want to take any chances. With Riccy it was something different. He had to come off because he felt something. I don’t know the extent of it, but in that sense, not great news.”

Elsewhere on the injury front, Arsenal were without Bukayo Saka due to a hamstring problem. Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu were all absent too, but a couple of those could be back by the Deepdale encounter.