Riccardo Calafiori: Injury ‘a worry’ for Arsenal who have ‘questions to answer’ after Shakhtar win

Arsenal are in the midst of a run of seven matches in 23 days in all competitions, with many players previously playing for their countries during the international break.

A damaging defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend was followed up by a less than sparkling showing against Shakhtar – but Arteta is confident his side will be at their best on Sunday.

He said: “We played two and a half days ago, with guys coming from internationals after flying from Brazil and many countries.

“I was expecting that we could drop off a little bit. Now we have four days, and believe me on Sunday we will be flying.”

Former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson said Arteta’s side must deliver consistent all-round performances.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “David Raya and his defence answered the questions and stayed really solid.

“But that’s going to wear thin eventually. Arsenal fans will be thinking their team will need to step it up to keep up with Liverpool and Manchester City.

“There’s holes in that performance and quite a lot of questions they’ll have to answer.”