Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba has suffered an ankle injury against Chelsea, subsequently ruling him out of Arsenal’s clash with Brighton on Wednesday evening.
After impressing against Chelsea, Saliba was spotted moving rather gingerly in the aftermath of the London derby win at the Emirates Stadium.
Does William Saliba’s absence make you more nervous to face Brighton?
Declan Rice was expected to be the big injury miss at the AMEX, but he has been passed fit to start, and it is instead Saliba who misses out.
Cristhian Mosquera is now the player who will once again step in to replace the 24-year-old, having recently proved he is a more than capable deputy.
Mikel Arteta on William Saliba’s ankle injury
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba ‘turned his ankle’ during the win over Chelsea and was ‘too sore’ to play versus Brighton.
Speaking ahead of the match, Arteta confirmed: “He turned his ankle against Chelsea. He managed to finish the game somehow, but he was too sore to play today.”
Saliba’s ankle injury is only ‘small’, and Arsenal have decided to leave him out of the squad as a ‘precaution’, according to Miguel Delaney.
The Gunners will hope that the French defender will not miss many more matches, but the game on the South Coast has come just too soon.
The North London club have a worrying win percentage of just 42.1 per cent when the 24-year-old does not feature, and that needs to increase tonight.
Team news is in! William Saliba misses out 😔 Score predictions?
Meanwhile, for Brighton they are also without a key defender and their captain, as Lewis Dunk misses out with an injury.
Olivier Boscagli replaces him in the team against Arsenal, making just his eighth Premier League appearance of the season for the Seagulls.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
