Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been handed a further injury blow in the Premier League title race as the Spaniard is reportedly set to be without defensive duo William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko for the remainder of the season. Saliba has been out of action since the Gunners’ Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon, while Zinchenko’s recent knock will see him miss the final stretch of games as they look to usurp Manchester City.
Arteta had been hopeful that Saliba was going to play a part in Arsenal’s title challenge with just three more games remaining but having missed the last eight games, he has been forced to watch on from the sidelines as Rob Holding and more recently Jakub Kiwior has deputised in his absence alongside Gabriel.
The Athletic have since claimed that Saliba has been unable to recover from his back injury, while Zinchenko picked up a calf injury in the 2-0 win away to Newcastle. Both players will now miss the final three games of Arsenal’s season, though neither will require surgery in more positive news.
Zinchenko has proven himself to be the first-choice left-back at the Emirates, but Kieran Tierney will be tasked with stepping in for the Ukrainian – starting with the visit of Brighton to north London on Sunday.
Prior to the victory at Newcastle, Arteta provided an update on Saliba and was not prepared to rule him out for the remainder of the season at the time. “He’s feeling better every single day but he’s still not been able to have any activity around the first-team, so we don’t expect him to be with us [at Newcastle],” Arteta said.
“It’s about the healing process. Pain-wise and with things that he can do now off the pitch, I think he is in a good place, but we have to build his capacity again to have the right impact, the right load and be in good condition to train and play for the team.
“We are not yet [ruling him out for the season], because we are always hopeful and players are always pushing to play but if that is the case then we will announce that. Hopefully that will not be the case.”
Zinchenko was substituted just after the hour-mark at St James’ Park but it was not apparent that the decision was made due to an injury at the time, as Tierney came on to see out the remainder of the game.
The pair join fellow defender Takehiro Tomiyasu on the sidelines as the versatile Japanese man has been a miss during the run-in, while Mohamed Elneny is also unlikely to return this season after undergoing knee surgery in January.
