Arsenal were without William Saliba for their Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium, leaving fans sweating over the whereabouts of the star centre-back.
Saliba’s only absence this season had been enforced, courtesy of a one-match ban picked up for his red card in the 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth in October last year.
The Frenchman was expected to start alongside Gabriel for the visit of Villa, who continue to go from strength to strength under the management of former Arsenal boss, Unai Emery, but was a surprise omission when the lineups were announced.
“He felt something before the match, something muscular,” manager Mikel Arteta confirmed. “I don’t think it’s too much, but he couldn’t train [on Friday]. He wasn’t feeling good enough to play, so we have to assess the situation.”
With limited information provided by Arteta, there will be obvious concern over Saliba ahead of an important run of fixtures. Arsenal are attempting to chase down Liverpool in the Premier League title race – the Reds struck late at Brentford earlier on Saturday to pick up a huge 2-0 win – and have Champions League games coming up against Dinamo Zagreb and Girona.
The Gunners also need to overturn a 2-0 deficit in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie with Newcastle.
Saliba joins a number of other first-team regulars on the sidelines, adding a further layer to Arteta’s injury headache. Bukayo Saka will be sidelined for another few weeks at least – the England winger is recovering from a torn hamstring – and Saliba’s defensive colleagues, Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White, are also out of action.
Gabriel Jesus, meanwhile, will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL in the recent FA Cup third round defeat to Manchester United.