Arsenal are dealing with yet another injury concern to a key player after William Saliba missed Sunday’s clash with Chelsea.
The French defender looked set to start as usual in a high-profile London derby in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, only to be omitted from the Gunners’ squad completely in a shock on matchday.
Arsenal quickly confirmed that Saliba was sidelined with a knock sustained in training on Saturday, meaning that Mikel Arteta - also still missing Gabriel - was without both of his influential first-choice centre-backs as summer signings Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie were paired together for a feisty 1-1 draw against 10-man Chelsea.
Arteta will be praying that neither man is sidelined for long as, following a week of huge matches against Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, the Premier League leaders continue a packed fixture schedule with upcoming games against Brentford, Aston Villa, Club Brugge, Wolves, Everton and Crystal Palace before Christmas.
However, there was good news for Arsenal against Chelsea, with star striker Viktor Gyokeres returning off the bench after a hamstring problem and Gabriel Jesus included in the squad for the first time since January as captain Martin Odegaard also earned more minutes as a substitute after his latest absence.
Here is the latest Arsenal injury news and return dates ahead of another all-London meeting with Brentford at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
William Saliba
Arsenal fans were stunned to see Saliba not involved when the team sheet dropped at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Arsenal writing on social media: “William Saliba misses out after a knock in training.”
Arteta did not specify exactly what the issue was as he addressed the media before and after the game, but revealed that the centre-back would undergo further examination by medical staff on Monday to determine its extent.
“I think he has another test tomorrow to see the extent of that feeling, that sensation that he had, then we'll know more,” Arteta said.
Potential return date: Unknown, pending further assessment
Gabriel
Saliba’s surprise absence came with Arsenal already missing regular defensive partner Gabriel due to an adductor injury suffered while playing for Brazil in a friendly against Senegal at the Emirates last month.
The 27-year-old was expected to miss a period of “weeks” as a result of the problem, having been scheduled to undergo a further scan to allow for a clearer time frame for his recovery to emerge.
Arteta confirmed after the draw at Chelsea that Gabriel would still be sidelined for a while yet.
“With Gabi, there are still some weeks to go,” he said.
Potential return date: December/January
Leandro Trossard
Before Saliba, the latest key addition to Arsenal’s injury list had been Leandro Trossard, who limped off with a muscle issue during the first half of Wednesday’s statement 3-1 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Arteta expressed hope on Friday that the Belgian winger would make a quick recovery and be available to face Chelsea, though he ended up missing out on the squad.
“Yeah, with Leo there’s another test today, we have to see how he’s feeling,” Arteta had said.
“It doesn’t look much, so we still have a few hours and we’ll have to see, it’s a potential chance (that he will be available).”
No new update on Trossard was forthcoming from Arteta after the meeting with Chelsea.
Though he did not end up playing, the fact that he was deemed so close to contention suggests that the injury is not serious and that he could be pushing for involvement on Wednesday.
Potential return date: Wednesday December 3, vs Brentford (H)
Kai Havertz
The only long-term absentee now yet to return for Arsenal is Kai Havertz, who has not played since undergoing surgery on a knee injury sustained against Manchester United on the opening weekend of the season.
After he missed out against Bayern Munich, Arteta was hopeful that Havertz - along with fellow forward Gyokeres - could make his comeback in some capacity against former club Chelsea.
“Not yet, but they are getting closer and closer, so we are very positive with both of them,” Arteta said of the duo’s potential returns on Friday. “The good thing is that now we find another option.
“We lost a player, two or three, we lost at some point six players in the front line, and the team continued to win and be very, very efficient, so I think that's very positive.”
Potential return date: Wednesday December 3, vs Brentford (H) or Saturday December 6, vs Aston Villa (A)
