Arsenal have been dealt a blow after William Saliba was forced to miss their clash with Aston Villa on Saturday.
Saliba was left out of the squad entirely after he was seen holding his hamstring towards the end of Wednesday’s win over Tottenham, and the club have confirmed that he has been ruled out of facing Villa with “a minor issue”.
Speaking ahead of kick-off, Mikel Arteta said: “He felt something post-match, something muscular.
“We don’t think it’s too much, but he could not train yesterday. He wasn’t feeling good enough to play so we have to assess the situation.”
He added: “He wasn’t feeling right after the game. He felt something so we need to do further tests to understand what’s wrong.”
The centre-back was also not pictured in training on Friday afternoon, with Arteta hinting in his press conference that Arsenal had injury issues.
“We have a few decisions to make this afternoon with the medical staff to understand whether they are in the best condition for this game or the next one, so we'll decide that,” said on Friday lunchtime.
In Saliba’s absence, Arteta opted to play Thomas Partey at right-back and move Jurrien Timber to the heart of defence.
Declan Rice, who played as a No8 in the win over Spurs, was shifted to the base of midfield and Mikel Merino came into the side to face Aston Villa.
Arsenal have been hit hard by injuries in defence this season and they are currently without both Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu due to knee injuries. Riccardo Calafiori is also out injured.
The Gunners have a busy January schedule and then kick off February by hosting Manchester City.
