Arsenal have suffered a major blow ahead of their title showdown against Manchester City after Mikel Arteta confirmed William Saliba will miss tomorrow’s game at the Etihad.
Saliba has been out for over five weeks with a back injury and is yet to return to training.
The French defender is also expected to miss next Tuesday’s game against Chelsea and there are growing fears he will not play again this season.
Arsenal have conceded nine goals in five games since Saliba injured his back last month and his absence has coincided with a dip in form that has seen the Gunners drew their last three matches.
“There has not been real improvement unfortunately on him,” said Arteta this morning.
“So we are still waiting, we are still hopeful, but obviously it is another week that has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.
“At the moment, we don’t have him. We are preparing for this game without him and the next game is probably going to come too close as well, so we have to go week by week at the moment.”
Arsenal hope Granit Xhaka will be available for tomorrow’s game at the Etihad, which could go a long way to deciding the Premier League title race.
The midfielder missed Friday’s 3-3 draw against Southampton due to illness but was expected to train today.
Arsenal are five points clear of City at the top but Pep Guardiola’s side have two games in hand.
“It’s going to be a tough night and challenge but the opportunity is incredible for us,” said Arteta.
“We knew from the beginning, if you want to win a Premier League, you have to go to Spurs and beat them. You have to go to Chelsea and you have to beat them.
“You have to go away from home and win. This is what we’ve been doing. This is why we’re here. Now you have to go to City and you have to beat them. If you want to be champions you have to win those matches. It’s as simple as that.”
Without Saliba, Arsenal must find a way to stop City striker Erling Haaland - who has scored 48 goals in 42 games this season. Rob Holding is likely keep his place at the heart of the Arsenal defence.
“When you look at the numbers there’s no comparison with anyone else,” said Arteta, when asked how Haaland has transformed City.
“With him they have the capacity to play in different ways, when you play really far from your goal they have the capacity to exploit open spaces and when they’re attacking low blocks they have a different threat because they are a very physical team right now.”
