William Saliba has been nursing a back injury and as per the latest updates, the Arsenal defender is still a few weeks away from full fitness.
The centre-back along with Gabriel has been the backbone for the Gunners this season but he’s been out for close to a month after picking up the knock during his team’s Europa League round of 16 defeat to Sporting CP.
As per the latest updates, Arteta is confident that he will be back in training very soon but he is now running the risk of missing out against Manchester City.
Arteta has updated had week, h/t Standard: “He’s progressing well and we’re hopeful that we’ll have him available in the next few weeks. We’ll have to see.”
Arsenal are scheduled to take on Southampton on Friday and there’s no way William Saliba will be risked in this match. The Saints are at the bottom of the league table so Rob Holding and Gabriel should do just fine in this match.
However, the main problem will be when the Gunners face Manchester City next week because that game is slated to become the season decider. Saliba has played in 27 Premier League games this season and he has a rating of 7.25 so someone like him will be badly needed.
If City win that match they will overtake the Gunners at the top spot which is why Mikel Arteta will want all of his best players on the pitch that day.
Some rumours are suggesting that the 22-year-old is willing to risk complicating his injury to face Manchester City next week but we are not sure if Mikel Arteta is going to allow that. Against a team like Man City, Arteta would much rather use Holding beside Gabriel instead of an unfit William Saliba.
Haaland has been in sensational form this season and the Norwegian international can tear a less than 100% Saliba into shreds.
As things are panning out right now, the Frenchman is not likely to be fit to face Southampton and Man City but there’s still a week left before Arsenal head to the Etihad so the manager will be keeping his fingers crossed.
