Mikel Arteta revealed William Saliba suffered an injury in the warm-up of Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, but started the defender anyway.
Saliba was forced off just a few minutes into the game at Anfield after a collision with Liverpool forward Hugo Ekitike.
It looked fairly innocuous at the time, but the Frenchman was clearly in a lot of discomfort and Arsenal quickly replaced him with summer signing Cristhian Mosquera.
The 21-year-old made his Premier League debut last time out in the win over Leeds but was handed a huge task of dealing with the Liverpool forwards at Anfield for nearly 90 minutes, but he did so admirably.
The Spaniard’s appearance did not come in the circumstances that Arsenal fans would have liked, though, and there is concern for Saliba.
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The centre-back twisted an ankle in the warm-up and Arteta is now fearful of how serious the problem could be.
‘I am worried,’ he said. ‘When he cannot play in a game of that stature, there is clearly something wrong.’
Metro at the Match: Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal
Metro at the Match returns to bring you all the analysis from the biggest games of the season.
Here’s were our team’s key takeways from Liverpool’s dramatic 1-0 win over Arsenal…
- Arsenal’s pursuit of Piero Hincapie looks especially timely after William Saliba was forced off after just five minutes. Cristhian Mosquera deputised well in the Frenchman’s absence, but Mikel Arteta must be pleased to have another reinforcement on the way – Ben Fleming, sports reporter
- One position Arsenal are still lacking in quality is the left wing. Gabriel Martinelli doesn’t quite know when to release the ball and was kept quiet by Dominic Szobozlai all game. If Martinelli can’t do it against someone who isn’t a proper right-back, who can he do it against? – Charlie Barclay, sports video journalist
- Sunday proved to be yet another quiet afternoon for Liverpool’s record signing, Florian Wirtz. The German is still yet to get to grips with Arne Slot’s system and has left the Reds’ midfield looking unbalanced as a consequence – Ben Fleming, sports reporter
- The potential signing of Marc Guehi appears to have finally jolted Ibrahima Konate into action. The French centre-back delivered his most assured performance of the season so far and dealt with the threat of Viktor Gyokeres with ease – Ben Fleming, sports reporter
- Arsenal found it difficult to create much yet again, constantly passing it backwards to David Raya, who was then forced to kick it long. Noni Madueke was the only outfield player who was bright on the day, but was dealt with impressively by Milos Kerkez – Charlie Barclay, sports video journalist
Speaking more widely of Arsenal’s current injury woes, he told Sky Sports: ‘We lost Martin [Odegaard], we lost Kai [Havertz] and then we lost Bukayo [Saka]. In the warm up we lost Saliba.’
It has been a very frustrating start to the season for the Gunners on the injury front, with Mikel Arteta’s squad already suffering a number of issues.
Bukayo Saka is out with a hamstring injury, while Kai Havertz is facing a significant spell out with a knee issue.
Christian Norgaard is yet to make his debut for the club after arriving from Brentford over the summer as he deals with a minor issue, while Ben White missed the trip to Anfield as well.
The game on Sunday was also a frustration for Arteta as his side were beaten 1-0 by the home side.
There was very little between the teams but they were separated by one of the best goals we will see all season from Dominik Szoboszlai.
The Hungarian, filling in at right-back, produced a stunning free-kick from long range, finding the top corner with a perfect strike.
Arteta told Sky Sports of the narrow defeat: ‘I am very disappointed with the result. I’m very proud of my players. Both [sets of] players had to dig in to a level where there was nothing between the two. It was going to be decided by an individual error or a moment of magic.
‘You cannot dominate here for 90 minutes, it is impossible. At the end of the game, I said we have to find a way to win these big matches.
‘You have to put the ball in the back of the net when you have it. We were much better than last year, much better. We have to put the ball in the back of the net if you want to win the game.’
On his stunning winner, Szoboszlai said: ‘Luckily we could practice some free-kicks. I felt this was a bit further. I was like ‘I’ll take the risk’. I was confident in myself, I tried it… finally [I’ve scored from a free-kick].
‘When you practice all the time, now I should mention Trent because he was taking the free-kicks in the past. Finally I could have my chance and did it.’
from: elfutbolero.us