"Very worried" – Arteta left sweating over Saliba injury
Yesterday at 04:33 PM
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will have to wait until tomorrow to assess the severity of William Saliba’s hamstring issue after the French international picked up the injury in Wednesday’s win over Sp*rs.
The centre-back was excluded from today’s matchday squad and was sorely missed as the Gunners squandered a two-goal advantage to draw with Aston Villa.
When asked if there was an update on Saliba’s fitness in his post-game press conference, Arteta said: “No, not yet. I think tomorrow, we’ll have more information. Tomorrow he’ll have another test and we’ll be more clear about that.”
In the context of Arsenal’s other injuries – they are currently without Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Riccardo Calafiori and Ethan Nwaneri – it was unsurprising that the boss expressed concern at the prospect of losing another key star.
“Yeah, for sure [I’m worried], especially with the numbers we have in the squad and looking at our bench, very worried,” he said.
In Saliba’s absence, Arteta asked Jurrien Timber to play alongside Gabriel with Thomas Partey moving from midfield to right-back. Of the six games, the Ghana international has played there this season, the Gunners have only won one.
When the grim stat was put to him, Arteta was quick to dismiss it: “I cannot judge [results] just because one player plays in one position.”
The boss was also asked if Saliba’s presence might have prevented Villa’s two goals – both scored from crosses into the box – but he wasn’t so sure.
“No, I think the first one the centre back is dragged out to the wide area because their full back is releasing so it's Mikel [Merino] that's following [Youri] Tielemans in this case.
“And the second one is a set piece that the central defender can be in any other position and probably Willy wouldn't be there in the second phase, so not too easy to point a finger.”
Arsenal now turn their attention to the Champions League with Dinamo Zagreb visiting the Emirates on Wednesday. They then head to Molineux to face Wolves – a first away game in six outings.
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