William Saliba to miss Arsenal’s key clash with Manchester City and perhaps the rest of the season
Mikel Arteta has expressed uncertainty about William Saliba’s ability to play again this season, as Arsenal becomes increasingly worried about the defender’s back injury.
Initially, Arsenal was optimistic that Saliba would be fit to play in the upcoming match against Manchester City, but now it seems highly improbable.
Saliba sustained the injury during Arsenal’s Europa League loss to Sporting Lisbon and has been absent from the team’s last four games.
“He is not progressing as quick as we hoped,” Arteta said of Saliba. “It is 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. At the moment, that is not possible to do.”
Asked whether it could be a season-ending injury, Arteta said: “I don’t know. It is a bit early to do [predictions]. 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 demands, to compete in this league.”
Arsenal is feeling more positive about Oleksandr Zinchenko’s condition. The left-back had a tight groin that forced him to miss the team’s draw against West Ham United last Sunday. However, Zinchenko could potentially return to the squad for their upcoming match against Southampton tonight.
In their previous two matches against Liverpool and West Ham, Arsenal has lost two-goal leads. Mikel Arteta mentioned that his team is eager to get back to their winning ways, and during training, they were so determined that he had to restrain them.
William Saliba could to miss Southampton clash
“We have to be perfectionists but at the same time we have to play with that flow,” Arteta said. “We are really good when we play with that energy and flow, and don’t think about the results. If anything this week, I have had to stop them because they want it more and more, so let’s leave that for Friday because that is the day we have to show it
“The way they talked, the way they communicated in the meetings we had [this week], it was all the right answers. The players were very clear on what we want, how we are going to do it and why it has taken us all the way here.”
If Arsenal secures a win against Southampton, they would be seven points ahead of Manchester City in the league standings. Manchester City will not be playing a league match this weekend.
Mikel Arteta will continue to back Bukayo Saka as Arsenal’s penalty taker despite his miss against West Ham. The Arsenal manager is resolute in his decision to have Saka take the next penalty and even joked that he would personally intervene to make it happen. Arteta confirmed that Saka will indeed continue to take penalties, and if needed, he would go onto the pitch himself to give Saka the ball for the next penalty kick.
. “If not, I will go on the pitch and throw him the ball to make sure he takes the next one.”
William Saliba to miss Arsenal’s key clash with Manchester City and perhaps the rest of the season