Mikel Arteta has admitted he is unsure whether or not Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be fit for Arsenal's Premier League clash against Liverpool this weekend.
The Gunners travel to Anfield on Saturday afternoon, a ground they have failed to record a league victory at since September 2012.
Now, there are major doubts over the fitness of tough-tackling midfielder Partey and club-captain Aubamayeng following the international break.
Aubamayeng returned early from international duty with Gabon after being ruled out of their clash against Egypt earlier this week but Arteta confirmed that the 32-year-old's return to north London wasn't planned.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: "No it wasn’t pre-planned. We had to assess him and see how he is and make decisions.
"We have a lot of players who have been through different games, issues, little injuries. So today we have to test everybody and see how we are today and tomorrow."
When asked if the prolific frontman came back because of a particular injury, he simply said: "Let’s see how everybody is. We have to see them today before assessing and making a judgement on how everybody is."
Former Atletico Madrid midfielder Partey missed out on the 1-0 win against Watford earlier this month, suffering from a groin injury that eventually kept him out of the international break as well.
Now, Arteta has confirmed that the 28-year-old is also a doubt for the trip to Merseyside.
"Same again (as Aubameyang)", the Spaniard added.
"He couldn’t play for the national team. He really tried to do that because obviously they had a massive game and he really pushed for that one, but it wasn’t enough to do that.
"Again, that’s something we have to assess because until today, he hasn’t done enough.".
