William Saliba's assessment over a back injury sustained against Sporting CP will ultimately decide whether or not Mikel Arteta has to call up an Arsenal youngster for the London derby vs Crystal Palace.
The France international had to be replaced as early as the 20th minute on Thursday night and, actually, wasn't the only defender whom the Gunners lost to injury in the first half en route to crashing out of the Europa League at the round of 16 stage via a penalty shoot-out.
Takehiro Tomiyasu lasted just nine minutes and having been spotted leaving the Emirates Stadium on crutches is expected to be absent for Arsenal against the Eagles and it remains to be seen when he will be in a position to be available for selection again after the international break.
READ MORE: Arsenal predicted XI vs Crystal Palace as Gabriel Jesus starts but William Saliba misses out
As for Saliba, football.londonunderstands that he will continue to be assessed to decide if he can retain his place in the Gunners' starting line-up for the visit of the Eagles, although it's worth pointing out that Arteta has said he will not take any risks on players who aren't at least 90% fit to compete.
"A player that is 50/50 cannot play in the Premier League," he told reporters. "You have to be 90-100 to play at the level that we need to play in this league. There's still 48 hours, and hopefully everybody will recover well and we'll assess them."
Keeping that in mind, based on the fact that Saliba has been an ever-present in the Premier League so far this season, if passed fit it's safe to assume that he will start and presumably alongside Gabriel Magalhaes despite the Brazilian playing 120 minutes just three days ago.
"We will have to see," Arteta added when asked if he is planning to rotate his team following a big effort against Sporting CP. "A lot of players played 120 minutes that we didn’t want to do especially with the minutes that some players have played. We will see who’s available in what condition and put the best team to win the game.
Alternatively, Saliba could be among the four senior stars - alongside Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Tomiyasu and Karl Hein - to miss the Palace clash as per Premier League rules regarding a 20-man matchday squad if Arteta decides the best course of action is to not risk the Frenchman.
This particular scenario could see Rob Holding - who replaced the 21-year-old against Sporting CP - handed his first Premier League start of the season. Furthermore, it would leave the Gunners with 19 senior players available for selection which in turn means a call-up for an academy prospect.
Given Saliba is a defender, Arteta could include Zach Awe or Reuell Walters in the matchday squad for extra cover alongside Kieran Tierney and Jakub Kiwior, or the Arsenal manager could take a bold approach and include another attacker such as Amario Cozier-Duberry once again.
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2023-03-19 07:00:00Z
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