Arsenal face a tough run-in towards a potential Premier League title starting with a trip to Manchester City, and there are some players who they cannot afford to lose.
The likes of Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice will be monitored carefully, as a bad injury to either player could be detrimental to Arsenal’s hopes of glory, both domestically and in the Champions League.
However, despite the quality and consistency of both players, there is arguably an even more important player that Mikel Arteta cannot be without at any stage during the run-in.
He found this out the hard way last season, as an injury to centre-back William Saliba helped put an end to Arsenal’s title hopes after leading the way for most of the season.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Arsenal ace Declan Rice from his girlfriend to height
William Saliba named as Arsenal’s most important player
Speaking on the Arsenal Beat Podcast, journalist Kaya Kaynak named Saliba as Arsenal’s most important player, pointing out that losing him for the run-in last year was catastrophic.
“In this fixture (Man City) in particular last season, Arsenal really struggled without William Saliba,” he stated.
“It’s weird to think that Rob Holding is the only Arsenal player who has scored at the Etihad under Mikel Arteta, but that does not equate to him being good for Arsenal at the Etihad, he was bad last season and when Saliba went out of the Arsenal squad, it all fell to pieces.
“Saliba’s record against Haaland is really impressive. In the Community Shield he had him in his pocket for most of game.
“Arsenal’s win percentage with Saliba was 78% last season, without him it was 46%, there’s similar status flying around this season.
William Saliba is Arsenal’s most irreplaceable player
Kaynak went on to explain that losing Saliba to injury would be more detrimental to Arsenal’s system than losing any other player.
“I just think that you can have squad players who are going to be important for strength in depth, but if something happens to Saliba, the drop off is still relatively big in comparison to the other positions.
“If Arsenal are going to go and win at the Etihad, the way they’re going to do it is by being really, really defensively disciplined.”
“Saliba is one of the few defenders who has consistently managed to keep Haaland quiet, and if Arsenal are to play the way they want to play, Saliba’s going to be huge.”
If Arsenal do lose Saliba, they do now have the option of moving Ben White back to the middle, with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior also available, and this would still be better than what they had last season.
However, any absence for the Frenchman would still have a bigger impact than any other player, and keeping him fit could be the difference between success and falling short in the title race.
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