Arsenal might be with out William Saliba for Sunday’s essential match with Liverpool on Sunday, reside on Sky Sports activities – so how huge a miss will he be?
The French defender was proven a straight purple card for flattening Bournemouth striker Evanilson, because the Gunners went on to lose 2-0 defeat to the Cherries. The decision was upgraded from a yellow card after VAR Jarred Gillett really useful Jones assessment the choice on-field.
A purple card for the denial of a goal-scoring alternative ends in a one-match ban, with Arsenal not planning to attraction the choice, however that one match is essential as Arne Slot’s Liverpool go to the Emirates Stadium this weekend, reside on Sky Sports activities.
Saliba performed each minute of Arsenal’s Premier League marketing campaign final time period, because the Gunners registered a number of the finest defensive numbers within the division final season.
Arsenal’s numbers with and with out Saliba are stark. Since coming into the group two years in the past, the Frenchman has solely missed 11 Premier League matches. Most of them got here on the again finish of the 2022-23 season when he picked up a muscular subject.
The defender missed the season run-in and Arsenal weren’t the identical defensively. Two-goal leads got away, so was an eight-point lead on the prime of the Premier League desk, as Manchester Metropolis claimed the title once more.
Who may change Saliba?
Does Jurrien Timber maintain the key to Arsenal fixing their defence?
Saliba’s absence comes at a crucial time for the Gunners defensively, with Jurrien Timber’s health one other blow for Mikel Arteta.
The Dutch defender limped out of Arsenal’s Champions League win over PSG at half-time on October 1 and has not emerged since.
If Timber can return in time for the weekend, with extra info to be found after Arsenal’s Champions League recreation with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night time, then that would enable Ben White to play alongside Gabriel at centre-back.
White has performed the final two seasons as a right-back, however did associate Gabriel as Arsenal’s first-choice centre-back pairing throughout the 2021-22 season.
If Timber is just not accessible, Arsenal nonetheless have loads of choices. Jakub Kiwior changed the opening left by Saliba towards Bournemouth – although his slack backpass within the build-up to the Cherries’ second objective is just not ideally suited preparation.
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Arsenal.
One other choice to fill that gap in defence is to play Riccardo Calafiori at right-back, which was the change Arteta made towards PSG when Timber went off injured.
However then Arsenal must discover a slot at left-back. Oleksandr Zinchenko returned from damage to sit down on the bench towards Bournemouth, however his defensive skills have come beneath query for the previous couple of seasons.
One standout defensive lapse involving Zinchenko got here at Anfield final season, when he allowed Mohamed Salah to chop inside too simply and rating, as Liverpool pegged Arsenal again to a 1-1 attract December. Arteta might use that second as a cause to not use Zinchenko if doable.
Arsenal’s purple card drawback – ill-discipline or unhealthy luck?
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Sky Sports activities’ Sam Blitz goes by Arsenal’s purple card document beneath Mikel Arteta’s tenure and compares it to comparable numbers to throughout Arsene Wenger’s reign however have been capable of nonetheless achieve success within the League.
Saliba’s purple card adopted sendings off for Leandro Trossard towards Manchester Metropolis and Declan Rice towards Brighton.
No different Premier League aspect has been proven greater than two purple playing cards this season, whereas Arsenal have extra first half purple playing cards this season then the remainder of the 19 Premier League groups mixed.
“To get three red cards in the first eight games is really poor,” stated Jamie Carragher on Monday.
“But if it doesn’t change quickly, they’re going to have a big problem. Even though it’s early in the season, you don’t want to be three or four points behind Man City.
“It might be a scenario when it is a freak – three purple playing cards in eight video games, it occurs as soon as in your profession as a supervisor.”
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Jamie Carragher says Arsenal’s purple card rely has received to cease in the event that they wish to shut the hole to Manchester Metropolis and win the Premier League
Besides it’s not, as it’s not the one time we’ve seen this sample with Arteta’s Arsenal. Pink playing cards do appear to return in bunches.
At first of 2022, the Gunners picked up three purple playing cards in 4 video games as Gabriel was despatched off towards Manchester Metropolis on New 12 months’s Day – earlier than Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey got their marching orders in both leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool.
In January 2020, there have been two London derby purple playing cards within the area of 10 days for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Luiz away at Crystal Palace then Chelsea respectively. On the finish of that 12 months, Xhaka and Gabriel have been despatched off inside three days of one another in back-to-back league video games towards Burnley and Southampton.
It means Arsenal have picked up 18 Premier League purple playing cards since Arteta moved to north London – considerably greater than some other membership. On prime of that, the Gunners have acquired two first-half purple playing cards this season, the identical because the remaining 19 Premier League golf equipment mixed.
However Arsenal’s historical past with Premier League purple playing cards goes a lot additional again – proper again to Arsene Wenger’s days, when purple playing cards weren’t so unusual within the Gunners’ ranks. So that is nothing new for the north London membership.
After Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, his group averaged practically 5 purple playing cards a season in his first six campaigns. Once they received the double in 2002, they picked up six purple playing cards that time period, together with three dismissals earlier than the beginning of November.
Throughout that double-winning season, Wenger even admitted his group educated commonly in a form of 10 gamers, so excessive have been the probabilities of getting a participant despatched off.
Again then Arsenal’s red-card culprits have been precisely who you’d anticipate. Martin Keown and Patrick Vieira have been commonly down the tunnel prematurely, whereas Ray Parlour was despatched off twice earlier than Christmas in that 2001/02 season.
There was a well-known feeling throughout Arteta’s early years. Luiz was despatched off thrice inside Arteta’s first two years in cost, Xhaka and Gabriel twice in the identical interval. It tended to be the identical faces.
This season, these culprits are extra unfamiliar. Rice, Trossard and Saliba have all been dismissed for the primary time of their Premier League careers. The latter had not even been dribbled previous by an attacker as soon as this season earlier than his sending off towards Bournemouth on Saturday.
It creates the notion that Arsenal’s spike in purple playing cards is just not an outdated Achilles heel of ill-discipline rising, somewhat the Gunners falling sufferer in unlucky circumstances to the elevated scrutiny on minor incidents.
