William Saliba hurt his ankle before Arsenal played Liverpool, and this injury means the French defender will miss several weeks. The 24-year-old twisted his ankle during warm-up at Anfield, but he told Mikel Arteta he felt good enough to start the match.
Saliba began the game, but he came off after just five minutes because the pain got too much. Hugo Ekitike made an early challenge that showed how bad Saliba’s ankle was, and Arteta had to bring him off straight away. Cristhian Mosquera came on to make his first appearance in the Premier League.
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Arteta said after the match that Saliba tried to be brave, but the ankle was too sore to continue. The Arsenal manager saw that his defender was not moving properly, and when a player like Saliba cannot cope in such a big game, something is definitely wrong.
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Arsenal doctors will scan Saliba’s ankle during the international break to see how bad the damage is. They think he will be out for three to six weeks, but this depends on what type of sprain he has. A Grade 1 sprain might mean two weeks out, but Grade 2 or 3 damage could keep him away until October.
Francetook Saliba out of their World Cup squad because he cannot play for his country right now. This actually helps Arsenal because their medical team gets more time to work on his ankle without him having to travel for international matches.
Arsenal have too many injured players at the moment. Bukayo Saka cannot play because of his hamstring problem, and Kai Havertz had surgery on his knee. Gabriel Jesus has not played since January because his knee is still not right. Ben White and Martin Odegaard also missed the Liverpool match because they were not fit.
Mosquera did well when he came on, and he played next to Gabriel Magalhaes without looking nervous. The young Spanish defender made some good tackles and stops that helped Arsenal stay in the match. He showed that Arsenal has some good backup players, but replacing Saliba is still very hard.
The timing is bad for Arsenal because they face some tough matches without their best defender. They play Nottingham Forest at home on 13 September and then Athletic Bilbao visit for the Champions League three days later. Manchester City come to Arsenal on 21 September for what could be a huge match in the title race.
Saliba has become one ofArsenal’s most important players since he got into the first team. He works well with Gabriel at the back and brings pace and good passing to Arsenal’s defence. His injury will test whether Arsenal has enough good players to cope without him.
Arsenal hope Saliba can come back for the Forest match if the scans show only small damage. But they will wait until he is completely ready because they made mistakes before when they brought players back too early. Arteta must now work out how to play without his star defender for the next few weeks.
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