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.
Arsenal’s star center back was engaged with Hugo Ekitike, an aerial duel not exhibiting anything particularly offensive at first glance but causing a lower left leg injury to Saliba.
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The French center back, 24, slumped to the turf in agony and required treatment from a trainer before leaving the match for Cristhian Mosquera.
Further replays indicated that Ekitike may have caught the outside of Saliba’s boot, but even slow motion reviews proved nothing conclusive.
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, history
A non-contact injury to the ankle or foot can certainly be dicey, and we’ll await Mikel Arteta’s post-match reaction for an update.
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.
