Arsenal will have to navigate this weekend’s Premier League clash against Liverpool without defender William Saliba. The France international was shown a red card in last Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth, which means he has to now serve a one-match ban.
Before that huge title showdown, the Gunners face Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League action at Emirates Stadium with Saliba available. However, as Arteta will be without his services just a few days later, he faces a huge decision over who to play in the centre of defence.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber are capable of filling in with it possible Arteta trials a new partnership on Tuesday. The latter being available is in major doubt though, with both he and Bukayo Saka missing the clash at Bournemouth last weekend.
If the duo miss out, it will come as a huge blow, especially with the expected absence of captain Martin Odegaard and, of course, Saliba. Arsenal appealing the decision is a possibility, though, with Arteta revealing his stance on that in his latest press conference.
“I leave that more to the club to understand the circumstances and other examples that are very clear in the same position and they will have to decide it,” he said. Sky Sports have since claimed that Arsenal have decided not to appeal his suspension for Sunday, when Liverpool visit Emirates Stadium.
That may come as a slight surprise given the significant controversy that surrounded the decision to have him sent off. Especially as 24 hours later, Chelsea’s Tosin Adarabioyo committed a very similar offence against Liverpool, but he was only shown a yellow card.
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Following that, research from talkSPORT BET has actually found that Arsenal benefit from lenient refereeing decisions. Of the traditional big six teams, the Gunners only receive one yellow card per 5.39 fouls, with Liverpool just below that total at 5.28 and referees the most harsh on Manchester City with 2.83 cautions for every foul.
This stat seemingly proves that while Arsenal commit fouls far less often than other teams, the punishments being dished out are much more significant given Saliba’s red card was the third of the season already.
