Latest Arsenal injury report as 4 miss Man City with William Saliba and Granit Xhaka update expected
The upcoming match between Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team and Manchester City is now more crucial than ever, following their third consecutive draw.
The Gunners managed to salvage a 3-3 draw against Southampton, after falling behind by two goals.
However, this result could mean they lose their momentum in the race for the title. Despite Oleksandr Zinchenko’s return, Arteta was still dissatisfied as Southampton, who are currently at the bottom of the table, managed to take a 2-0 and 3-1 lead at the Emirates Stadium.
The absence of centre-back William Saliba in the last four games has been detrimental, as Arsenal have conceded nine goals during this period, and unfortunately, there is still no positive update on his availability.
“No big news,” he said. “The picture hasn’t changed from last week. Regarding William [Saliba], we still have to wait a little more.
“He is not progressing as quick as we hoped. It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he is ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take and at the moment that’s not possible to do.”
Although there was optimism that the important defender would be able to come back quickly for the match against Manchester City mid-week, Mikel Arteta has not revealed any specific information yet. He stated that it is too early to make any predictions regarding Saliba’s return.
“Probably next week we are going to have more certainty. There is some evolution, he is doing more activity, but he is not there yet to start to throw him on the pitch at the level that the sessions demand to compete in this league.”
The absence of William Saliba has been strongly felt by the team in the past few weeks. Additionally, Mikel Arteta had to deal with the absence of Granit Xhaka in the Southampton game, which created a significant gap in the midfield.
“This morning unfortunately Granit [Xhaka] wasn’t feeling well so we had to get him out of the squad,” the Spanish head coach explained.
Apart from Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny, who are out for an extended period, there are no other significant injury concerns for Arsenal. On the other hand, Pep Guardiola will have to manage without key defender Nathan Ake for the match against Arsenal.
“I don’t know. He’s [Ake] not ready for tomorrow but I don’t know the damage,” Guardiola said.
“I think this afternoon they do the final test to see exactly what he has.” Elsewhere Phil Foden is in contention despite not playing for over a month. “He was on the bench in Munich after two training following two, three weeks without training. Every day that passes he’ll be better.”
Latest Arsenal injury report as 4 miss Man City with William Saliba and Granit Xhaka update expected