Mikel Arteta has been left juggling a growing list of fitness worries ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool, with Declan Rice among those under an injury cloud. The midfielder was forced off against Everton last weekend after, in Arteta’s words, he finished with “a problem”, leaving his availability for Sunday’s clash at Anfield uncertain.

Rice is not the only concern. Arteta admitted after Arsenal’s Carabao Cup exit that “Riccardo was out, Noni was out with an ankle and Declan Rice finished with a problem the other day,” underscoring the scale of the issue facing his side.

Some absences, though, are already clearer. Bukayo Saka has joined William Saliba on the list of long-term injuries after damaging his left quad in the Champions League draw with Bayern Munich. Saka is expected to miss at least six weeks and will not be back before the start of December at the earliest.

Saliba’s situation remains less defined. The defender has not played this season since surgery on a persistent back problem that became too much for him at this summer’s World Cup. Arteta has described the signs in his recovery as “very, very positive”, but he has not offered a return date, with the end of November mentioned only as a loose target.

There is also uncertainty around Christos Tzolis. The summer signing picked up a thigh problem while on international duty with Greece in the fall and was ruled out for around three weeks. He may yet have a role on Sunday, but his status remains unresolved.

Elsewhere, Max Dowman will not be able to win Arteta over through the FA, although Arsenal could still try to secure the teenager’s availability by appealing his red card against Fleetwood. The 16-year-old was dismissed for kicking out at Harrison Neal, with the force described as minimal but still enough for a straight red. With no VAR at this stage of the Carabao Cup, Michael Salisbury’s on-field call stood at the time. Dowman was found guilty of violent conduct, which the FA Handbook describes as “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball.”

With the 2026-27 season still in its early stages, Liverpool and Chelsea will already be looking at the Carabao Cup as a realistic route to silverware. The competition has taken on added importance after Arsenal’s surprise defeat to League Two side Fleetwood Town on Tuesday removed one major rival from the picture.

That result has sharpened the focus on Wednesday’s fourth-round tie at Anfield, where Liverpool and Chelsea will meet knowing one of them is guaranteed to leave the competition. With the rest of the round not yet completed, the winner will move a step closer to a trophy that now looks more open than it did at the start of the campaign.

The wider history of the competition underlines that point. Aside from Newcastle United’s triumph in 2025, the Carabao Cup has been won by one of England’s “Big Six” every year since 2013. Since Leicester City’s success in 2000, only five other winners have come from outside Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

This season, however, several of those familiar contenders have already fallen away. Man Utd and Tottenham exited in the third round, while Arsenal are now out as well. Another heavyweight will go on Wednesday when Liverpool host Chelsea, and the quarterfinals will then feature no more than two of the Big Six.

Manchester City remain involved too, and their own fourth-round meeting with third-placed Brighton & Hove Albion will remove another leading threat. Even so, the shape of the draw has left both Liverpool and Chelsea with a genuine opportunity.

Of Liverpool’s four possible trophies this season, the Carabao Cup is the least glamorous alongside the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Yet the chance to win it is real, and Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola appears to understand that his best opportunity for silverware in his first season at Anfield may have already arrived.

There was little sunshine to be found on Matchday 8, as Storm Boelo lashed English grounds with rain and wind. For all the bad weather, only one fixture finished goalless, and the round still produced a sharp series of swings in tone, quality and consequence.

Manchester United’s latest setback stood out for all the wrong reasons. Without Bruno Fernandes, they looked short of attacking life again, while Bournemouth made the most of what they created in a 3-0 win. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur earned a notable victory at Stamford Bridge after Mike Penders handed them the opening goal, with Cole Palmer adding to Chelsea’s problems by picking up two unnecessary yellow cards.

Several matches were defined more by frustration than fluency. Fulham struggled to trouble Coventry, managing just two shots on target, while Crystal Palace surrendered control against Newcastle after leading the shot count at the break. Everton were pushed back by Arsenal and rarely threatened after falling behind early. Ipswich and Nottingham Forest finished level after a match in which neither side found much rhythm, even if the visitors were able to make more of the contest than their hosts.

Brentford’s draw away to newly promoted opposition drew a blunt response from Keith Andrews and Michael Kayode, who both said, “We have to be better.” Sunderland also shared the points in a contest shaped by the conditions, with Régis Le Bris pleased enough to say, “We were Sunderland today.” At the Stadium of Light, the wind played a major role in a game where both teams completed only 73% of their passes.

There were also decisive moments at Anfield and Villa Park. Liverpool saw Brighton’s recent momentum halted as early goals changed the shape of the match, while Villa took control through Nicolas Jackson’s sharp finishing and a commanding display from Zion Suzuki, who produced six saves and 12 line-breaking passes. In another tight contest, Hull and their opponents could not be separated, and Sergej Jakirović called it “a fair result.”

The weekend’s final judgement was not about one storyline alone, but about a league round where weather, missed chances and single moments repeatedly decided the outcome.