The Premier League leaders return to home soil for the first time since the 1st April on Friday night, as they welcome bottom-of-the-table Southampton in the hopes of regaining their winning touch. The latest Arsenal injury news provided by Mikel Arteta indicates several players may still be some way off retuning to action.
After blowing two-goal leads in consecutive matches, Arsenal’s current points cushion at the summit stands at four heading into Friday night, although Manchester City hold a game in hand.
Nevertheless, the Gunners can open up a temporary seven-point gap should they find a way past Southampton, who are coincidentally one of only five sides to take points off the league leaders on the road.
Of course, every fixture between now and the season’s close is a must-win with City hitting their stride at the optimal moment, but tomorrow’s fixture could be crucial in gaining a little breathing space, ahead of the crunch tie in Manchester next week.
Manager Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the press ahead of the game, and gave an update on the latest Arsenal injury news with several key names unavailable.
Long-term absentees Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu remained sidelined for the foreseeable future, but much of the focus surrounding their dip in form has coincided with William Saliba’s back injury.
🗣️ “Regarding William [Saliba], he’s not progressing as quick as we hoped. We have to be delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he’s ready. Next week we will have more certainty.”
Mikel Arteta provides an update on the fitness of William Saliba. 🤕 pic.twitter.com/FVpwZWQ2fb
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 20, 2023
Rob Holding has deputised in his stead at centre-back, but the Arsenal faithful are keen to have one of their standout performers back in time for the title run-in. However, Arteta has confirmed his recovery timeline will take longer than previously thought.
He said: “Regarding William [Saliba], we still have to wait a little bit more. He’s not progressing as quick as we hoped.
“It’s a bit delicate, we want to be very certain when we push him that he is ready to absorb the load and the risks that we take, and that’s not possible at the moment.”
Asked whether we would see the Frenchman again this season, he added: “I don’t know, it’s really early. Probably next week we will have more certainty.
“There is some evolution, he’s doing more activity but he’s not there yet to start to throw him on the pitch at the level that is demanded to compete in this league.”
Elsewhere, Kieran Tierney stepped in for Oleksandr Zinchenko against West Ham last time out, after the latter picked up a muscular injury. Although he was spotted in first team training this week, Arteta appears eager to proceed with caution and remained tight-lipped on his progress.
“We will see on that one as well, it is not certain. It’s a muscular injury and he needs some time to heal, and we’re not there yet.”
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