Arsenal let slip yet another 2-0 lead on Sunday afternoon as West Ham put a serious dent in the Gunners' Premier League title hopes. Mikel Arteta's side had been in cruise control at the London Stadium thanks to early goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard.
But the Hammers fought back to 2-2, with a Said Benrahma penalty and Jarrod Bowen equaliser ensuring the gap between Arsenal and Man City was cut to four points. Pep Guardiola's side, of course, have a game in hand on the north Londoners while the two title-chasing teams will meet at the Etihad Stadium on April 26 in what promises to be a cracker of a game.
Ahead of that fixture, Arsenal play Southampton and Arteta will now be keen to use the time on the training pitch at London Colney to address a few issues. One of those issues could be regarding the back line.
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While Arsenal have not been bad defensively this season - in fact, they have the third-best defensive record in the Premier League this term - the Gunners have let in a few more goals than they would have liked in recent weeks. According to WhoScored, Arsenal have conceded 19.4% (6) of their goals in the Premier League this season in their last four games alone.
The north Londoners' last clean sheet in the league came in the 3-0 win at Fulham on March 12. Since the beginning of March, Arteta's side have kept two clean sheets over nine games, if you include the two Europa League games against Sporting CP.
These worrying statistics coincide with the injury of William Saliba. The centre-back limped off with a back injury in the draw with Sporting CP on March 16 and has missed the last four matches.
"William Saliba is still not available," Arteta said in his pre-match press conference on Friday. "He is progressing well and we hope he will be available in the next few weeks."
When asked whether Saliba was back training on grass, Arteta added: "He’s not far off starting to do that. Obviously we need to be cautious because of the injury but he’s evolving well."
With the trip to Manchester City just around the corner, it seems there's a good chance therefore he could miss the pivotal title clash. Rob Holding is expected to continue in the Frenchman's place.
The 27-year-old has performed admirably in Saliba's place but the fact Arsenal have conceded six goals in their last four games does point to somewhat of a problem. Arteta will be keen to find out what the problem is in the coming days and give his side the best possible chance of keeping a clean sheet against Southampton on Friday.
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