Arsenal dealt blow ahead of City title decider as Ornstein reveals star player is ruled out
Arsenal will be without William Saliba for their crucial Premier League clash against Manchester City, David Ornstein has revealed.
The Gunners are currently five points clear of the reigning champions, who crucially have two games in hand.
Having sat top of the table for the vast majority of this season, Mikel Arteta’s side have been heavily fancied to win their first league title since 2004, but three draws in a row have made City the favourites.
Wednesday’s fixture at the Etihad has perhaps been on the players’ minds during the disappointing results against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.
Arsenal have been missing Saliba – who has proven himself to be one of their most important players – since the Europa League last-16 clash against Sporting on March 16, and his absence has played a huge part in the dip in form.
Arteta brought in Rob Holding to fill the void left by the young French defender.
And Holding will once again be called upon on Wednesday, which is a huge blow to Arsenal’s chances of winning at their title rivals.
The 22-year-old has not shown ‘sufficient progress’ and is also expected to miss the home match against Chelsea on May 2.
There are ‘increasing fears’ Saliba will not play again this season, Ornstein says.
This is not confirmed, however, and the Arsenal medical staff are working hard to reintegrate him for the final month of the campaign.
The report highlights the importance of Saliba in Arteta’s system. Without him, Arsenal average 1.8 goals conceded per game, while they average 0.9 with him.
Furthermore, the Gunners average 2.4 points per game with Saliba and 1.8 without him.
Arsenal are clearly a completely different side when Holding plays next to Gabriel Magalhaes.
Saliba’s injury is obviously very unfortunate, but the fact Takehiro Tomiyasu is also injured is having a huge effect.
The Japanese international would be able to slot in at right-back, with Benjamin White returning to the centre of defence.
With Holding, the Gunners are forced to sit deeper, are less convincing playing out from the back and there is a knock-on effect throughout the team.
Bukayo Saka’s output has declined with Holding in over Saliba, which is not a coincidence. Meanwhile, Thomas Partey has been forced to operate in different positions, picking the ball up much deeper than normal.
Gabriel is another player who is missing Saliba.
The Brazilian and Frenchman have developed an incredible partnership, and with Holding next to him, Gabriel has looked less convincing in what has been an amazing campaign for him.
While Holding has not exactly been directly at fault for the Londoners’ poor results through individual errors, he is evidently out of his depth and the thought of him starting at City brings a shiver to the spine of every Arsenal fan.
The 27-year-old is fine as a player who comes off the bench late on to shore up the defence, but is someone who should be nowhere near the starting XI of a team challenging in the Premier League and Champions League.
Holding actually started at the Etihad in January when Arsenal lost 1-0 against City in the FA Cup fourth round.
He did not play poorly up against Nordic robot Erling Haaland, but he was booked after 42 minutes and Arteta decided to take him off at half-time to avoid a repeat of what happened against Tottenham last season.
Holding will need to play the game of his life if Arsenal are to get a win at the Etihad – which seems like the only result that will work for them in the title race after picking up three points from a possible nine.
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