William Saliba lasted less than five minutes of Arsenal’s big match with Liverpool at Anfield, a cause for massive concern at the north London club, as Mikel Arteta revaled the injury actually before the game.
Arsenal’s star center back was engaged with Hugo Ekitike, an aerial duel not exhibiting anything particularly offensive at first glance but Saliba was not comfortable with his ankle.
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The French center back, 24, slumped to the turf and required treatment from a trainer before leaving the match for Cristhian Mosquera.
The Gunners were already playing without Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, while another injury to Martin Odegaard is keeping the captain on the bench.
William Saliba injury news as he’s withdrawn from France squad
A non-contact injury to the ankle or foot can certainly be dicey, but it may not be a huge problem after Mikel Arteta’s post-match reaction. Arteta said that Saliba was injured in warm-up, seeming to imply that the Frenchman tried to give it a go but only lasted five minutes (For what it’s worth, Cristhian Mosquera was excellent off the bench).
“He twisted his ankle during the warm-up, and he came in and he said he believed that he could carry on and play, but straight away in the first two actions. I could see that he couldn’t cope, and we had to get him out unfortunately,” Arteta said. “But thank God we had Mosquera, which we put in for the first time in the Premier League. His debut, not expecting it at Anfield, and I think he was really, really good.”
Saliba has been pretty durable in his time with the Gunners. He missed the final two months of the 2022-23 season with a back injury, but otherwise only missed multiple matches on one occasion — a January hamstring ailment last season. The 28-times capped France back has appeared in 136 games for Arsenal, scoring seven goals.
The French national team have said that Saliba has been withdrawn from their squad during the international break due to a “left ankle sprain” and won’t feature in World Cup qualifiers.
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