Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that William Saliba will miss the upcoming game against Southampton as he is slowly recovering from a back injury.
Saliba has missed the last four games for Arsenal due to an injury he picked up against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League.
“We still have to wait. It’s not progressing as quickly as we’d hoped. The situation is delicate, and we want to make sure that when we get him back on the field, he will be ready to handle the rhythm, and at the moment that is not possible,” Arteta said, Sky reported.
Asked if Saliba will miss the rest of the season, Arteta said: “I don’t know, it’s still early.”
“We will probably know more next week. There is some progress; he is active, but not yet enough to bring him to the field at the level of training required to compete in this league,” added the coach of the London team.
Arsenal are at home against Southampton on Friday night and need a win to maintain their lead in the table. Arsenal have 74 points, four more and a game ahead of second-placed Manchester City. Southampton is last in the table with 23 points, four short of the safety zone.
Arteta said that Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has not yet returned to training due to a muscle injury, will most likely miss the game.
“We will see; we are not sure. It’s a muscle injury, and it takes time to heal,” he added.
Arsenal have drawn two games in the Premier League, and many feel they are losing the battle with City; Arteta said he respected everyone’s opinion.
“When you set your standards and expectations very high, you have to maintain them. It is extremely difficult to win every game in the Premier League. “We haven’t lost five times in the last six games, so we are in this situation, but we played two draws in two very difficult away games,” he said.
“But when you’re there (at the top), everyone expects you to win, win, win.” “It is necessary to win almost every game if you want to win the title,” added the Spanish coach.
He also said that Bukayo Saka will get over missing a penalty in the game against West Ham and that the experience of the European Championship final, when he also missed a penalty, helped him mature.
He was also asked if Saka would take the next penalty.
“Yes. “And if not, I’ll go out on the field and throw him the ball to make sure he takes him off,” said Arteta.
