Arsenal’s William Saliba in contention to face Brentford after ‘bizarre’ injury – Mikel Arteta
The Athletic has live coverage of Arsenal vs. Brentford from Premier League Matchweek 14.
Mikel Arteta has said that William Saliba could return from his “bizarre” injury for Wednesday’s match against Brentford after the centre-back missed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea last weekend.
The France international trained ahead of the Chelsea game, having played the entirety of Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Bayern Munich, but felt discomfort the day before the short trip to west London.
The Arsenal manager would not specify the nature of Saliba’s injury, but speaking at his pre-Brentford press conference on Tuesday, said: “He had a little niggle but I think it’s going to be a matter of days. Let’s see if he’s able to deal with that tomorrow.”
This has been the third minor issue that Saliba, 24, has had this season. The first was a twisted ankle suffered at Liverpool in August, which sidelined Saliba for a few weeks. Next was an issue that led to the Frenchman being brought off at half time against Crystal Palace in October, but he was fine to start the next league match.
“The ankle one was a really random and unlucky action that kept him out for a few weeks,” said Arteta. “We tried it at Anfield and he wasn’t comfortable, so he had to stay away. This one was very bizarre but hopefully it will be a matter of days.”
Leandro Trossard also missed the draw at Stamford Bridge, but Arteta said that he too will only be out for “a matter of days”.
Kai Havertz remains out for weeks, and asked whether the Germany international has suffered a setback, Arteta said: “He was doing everything and couldn’t go to the next level. Now it’s looking like we have unlocked that.
“We are desperate to have him. It’s a player that personally, I love so much for what he brings to the team. His character, his personality. I see him suffer being out. Playing regularly he is phenomenal, he’s always been available and I can’t wait to have him back around the team because I think it’s going to be a massive boost for the team.
“I don’t know (if he will return this month), let’s see how it evolves in the next few weeks. He’s doing really well, doing stuff on the pitch, but he needs time.”
Injuries have been a niggling subplot to Arsenal’s encouraging season, but they remain five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after 13 matches.
Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke have all returned from injuries to make the matchday squad in the past week, while the likes of Cristhian Mosquera and Mikel Merino have stepped up to fill the voids left by injured players.
Asked whether injuries being a theme of another season is frustrating, Arteta said: “Yeah, especially with how we lost them.
“With Leo, he was in a great moment. Gabi Martinelli was just coming back and we had to manage his minutes. He wasn’t able to play more than what he did on Sunday. Willy trained the day before and then wasn’t comfortable.
“But the attitude towards it and the way the players are performing and giving absolutely everything they can to fulfil those absences has been the key of the season because we have had to deal with a lot already.
“We were able to learn and put together a squad that is much more reliable and has more options. We learned from the past as well that if we have to use players in different positions, they have to be able to fulfil different roles if we want to compete at this level. The example of Mikel Merino is probably the best.”
Merino’s equaliser at Chelsea was his fourth goal this season, but his 28th for club and country this calendar year. Arteta will now have a decision to make on who starts up front with Gyokeres and Jesus back.
Arteta’s squad players impressing
Analysis
Without his primary centre-back pairing, Arteta has fallen back onto secondary options Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie, who have both performed well in place of Saliba and Gabriel.
Mosquera has had to step up often while both Saliba and Gabriel have been injured this season, and was Arsenal’s 13th-most used player heading into the weekend. Hincapie was Arsenal’s fifth-least used before the game at Stamford Bridge, mostly due to game management, and has been largely reliable.
Even if Saliba returns for Brentford, Arteta will need to rely on both Mosquera and Hincapie in the coming weeks as there are midweek games in all but one week in December.
Out wide, these matches should give Arteta an opportunity to rotate in the full-back areas, too. Myles Lewis-Skelly struggled in his last two matches, but has had good spells of form earlier this season.
At right-back, Ben White was one of Arsenal’s strongest performers in pre-season and started the opening day win at Manchester United, but Jurrien Timber has been in undroppable form. A key player in making Arsenal title challengers, the coming weeks could be the right time for him to remind everyone of his quality at right-back.
