Arsenal aren’t the same without William Saliba

William Saliba is set to miss Arsenal’s clash with Man City, after missing their recent matches.

The 22-year-old has been a vital player for the Gunners and they have desperately missed him since he picked up an injury against Sporting CP in March.

David Ornstein of The Athletic recently confirmed that Saliba will miss Arsenal’s midweek clash with Manchester City and he is also likely to miss their clash with Chelsea next week.

William Saliba has been one of the best defenders in the Premier League this season and there’s no doubt that Arsenal have missed his presence in recent weeks.

The French defender joined Arsenal back in 2019 for a fee of around £27million. However, he had to be patient and wait for his chance in North London as he spent the next three years out on loan.

Mikel Arteta realised the defender’s growth at Marseille and decided to hand the Frenchman his debut earlier this season. He has since formed a fine partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes and Arsenal haven’t looked back since.

The Arsenal boss has been pleased to see how Saliba has bedded into the squad after spending the last few season’s out on loan in France.

“The first question was how the player is going to reintegrate into our dynamic after being out for so long,” Arteta told reporters in March.

“Is there some frustration there, something personal between, for example, between me and the player because he could not understand that?

“Or his environment, his expectations coming back or the amount that we paid for him, his age, is it the same to do it in France as it is to do it in this League for Arsenal because you don’t have 21-year-old defenders at the top level in England?

“There were a lot of question marks and he went with all of them, ticking them off and giving us every reason to be confident that he was a great player for us.”

Since picking up an injury, Rob Holding has filled in at the back. Saliba’s absence from the side has coincided with a dip in form which has seen the Gunners draw their last three league matches.

Arteta’s men did manage to salvage a point against Southampton in a dramatic 3-3 draw, however, the dropped points could prove costly come the end of the season.

We’ve gone ahead and crunched the numbers to see just how Arsenal’s record looks this season with and without Saliba in the starting line-up.

In 32 matches that Arsnal played With William Saliba, they Won: 22, Drawn: 5, Lost: 5 – Goals for: 67, Goals per game: 2.09, Goals against: 33, Goals against per game: 1.03, Points per game (Premier League): 2.22 (2.44), Win rate: 68.75%, Loss rate: 15.63%.

But Without William Saliba, Arsenal Played: 11, Won: 7, Drawn: 3, Lost: 1, Goals for: 25, Goals per game: 2.27, Goals against: 11, Goals against per game: 1.00, Points per game (Premier League): 2.18 (1.80), Win rate: 63.63%, Loss rate: 9.09%