Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal are still “waiting” on William Saliba having ruled the Frenchman out of the Gunners’ next two Premier League games.
The defender has missed the North London side’s last five outings with an ongoing back issue. His drop out of the side has coincided with a slump in form at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have failed to win in their last three Premier League games, Arteta’s men also not managing to keep a clean sheet in the entire time that Saliba has been restricted to the sidelines. The 22-year-old is not expected to return for Wednesday evening’s key showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium and could also miss the following game against Chelsea.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: “There’s not been a real improvement unfortunately on him. 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.”
There are fears that Saliba could potentially miss the remainder of the campaign as the Gunners attempt to end their near 20-year wait for a Premier League crown. Asked for specifics about his injury, Arteta was tight-lipped and refused to reveal when the Frenchman could return to the side.
The Spaniard added: “I’ll leave that to the doctors to explain if they have to explain. At the moment, we don’t have him. We are preparing for this game without him and next game [against Chelsea] obviously probably is going to come too close as well so we have to go week-by-week at the moment.”
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Whilst Saliba is out, Arsenal’s problems ahead of the Etihad Stadium have grown with Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka also potentially missing. The 30-year-old was not in the squad for Friday’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Southampton at the Emirates Stadium due to illness.
His replacement Fabio Vieira endured a torrid time of things after being introduced to the starting line-up against the Saints. Arteta revealed that Xhaka faced a late fitness test to determine whether he would be able to play against City.
He said: “Hopefully he [Xhaka] will be able to train today. He's still a doubt."
Arsenal still remain without long-term absentees Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu. The duo will not play again this season having undergone surgery for respective knee issues.
Arteta could potentially be tempted to refresh his side for the showdown with Man City. January signings Jorginho and Leandro Trossard could be handed starting berths against City.
Ahead of the game, Arteta has played down suggestions that it could define their campaign. “We wanted to close that gap as much as we could and we’re toe-to-toe with them [City],” he said.
“We knew we had to go to the Etihad. Is it going to define the season? The answer is no.”
