Will William Saliba be fit to play against Leeds? That’s the one question whose answer almost every Gooner wants to know considering the Arsenal star has been out injured and there is no word about how serious his injury was.
William Saliba has established himself as a big cog in Arteta’s project. His defensive prowess has made him undroppable in Arteta’s defence; even Ben White had to make way for him at the right side of the central defence. Saliba is so important to Arsenal’s success that without him, nothing seems right in our defence. Rob Holding was brilliant to fill in for him against Crystal Palace, but we can all agree Palace’s attack is one of the weakest there is in the PL; that it was no guarantee he will deliver against high-attacking teams.
Anyway, what is the possibility of Saliba playing this weekend against Leeds? As per the Arsenal expert Chris Wheatley, the Frenchman could still be out as he is set to be out by this weekend. “He has what we understand to be a hamstring injury. He’s not appearing for France while he recovers from that.
“Expect him to be out for a couple of weeks; he could be back sooner than that, but the initial prognosis is a couple of weeks,” Wheatley said on National World TV. “Arsenal have options, but Saliba at the moment is expected to be out for a couple of weeks or less.”
Do you think Rob Holding will be just as effective against Leeds?
Daniel O
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Hopefully he recovers in time for the Liverpool clash, Liverpool attack would tear us apart with Holding at the back.
I’m sure Holding can handle Leeds’ CF, but we’ll need Saliba at Anfield
I thought it was a back problem..?
Holding is ruthless but Saliba is technical, holding,for now is our best option with Saliba out, it just means we’ll need to reinforce the defence and midfield in 2nd half,
Why isn’t Tierney-Gabriel patnership ever an alternative? We know Tierney plays CB for his country so why not use him there? He is a far better option than Holding though to be fair Holding was excellent against Palace. What I am concerned about is whether Holding can maintain that level of performance? When know deep down in our hearts that Holding overperformed in the last match and is unlikely to repeat such kind of a performance again. I don’t understand the reluctance to use Tierney in defence.
Have you ever seen any team consciously use 2 left footers in central defence before? Most especially with us favouring playing out from the back.
Gabriel & Tieney ‘isn’t an option unless you have no option’
2 left footers in CB will definitely lead to calamity
@Tomi
But we have seen 2 right footed defenders play at the centre of defence before. So are we saying right footed defenders are just superior to left footed ones or what? I don’t see how 2 left footers are any more of a liability than 2 right footers playing together. In fact, a left footer on the right side of defence will always have his preferred foot blocking a right footed striker trying to cut in!
Preferred foot has no contribution to centerbacks.. It mainly affects wingers and fullbacks.. So with respect what you are saying is non sense
QD, well I DO understand why! He is barely 5ft 9″and not esp good in the air.
I’d go with Kiwior and play as close as possible to our usual back four therefore. Tierney is a top class full back but NOT as a CB!
@JF
Kiwior was shocking versus Sporting and he doesn’t have the vital PL experience Tierney has.
QD, Tierney rarely heads the ball, that is his weakness among others. He lets the ball bounce and that gives the opposition a chance to attack.
Just my observation.
Well done to the ladies!
COYG 🙂
Guess the whole comment section is saying the same, Holding can handle leeds but we need saliba for Liverpool. 100m Arsenal fans keeping everything crossed.
We have to go back to a 3-4-1 – 2 in my opinion.
3: Tierney – Gabriel – Holding.
4: Zinchenko – Xhaka – Jorginho – White (I think Partey is injured).
1: Odegaard
2:: Martinelli – Saka.
I fear for us if Holding plays. He is way less useful than our regular CB’s. I thought we bought Kiwior, so that Holding could be a last resort only .
Yes, I know Holding played well against Palace but that was against a toothless attack.
If he has to play against Liverpool, God help us.
Thats my view anyway as a fan who has never rated Holding as a player, top bloke though he definitely is.
But good players win titles, not necessarily top blokes. Reality!
Kiwior is a Gabriel alternative IMO, for this year at least.
Well, its sad but better not to take any risks at this crucial juncture by playing him. That said, Holding has been doing a pretty decent job as an ideal replacement.
I watched the palace game and I think Holding was very close to getting sent off. I like him and when he steps on the pitch he puts it all on the line for Arsenal and I love that but he is a real liability on the pitch and I’d rather see Ben white revert back to that position and play someone else in the right back spot. Hope they’ve been practicing with one of the left backs play on the right this week. It’s imperative we do not lose this weekend!!!
Not bothered about him missing the Leeds game but Liverpool definitely holding will get exposed against there front line and fear the worse should he play!
We have the ideal option in White only for Tomi to once again fall apart
this is very worrying. Holding HAS produced in big games before though and will need to do it again for us. I really hope we can get Saliba back next weekend but it doesn’t seem likely. Anfield is gonna be a rough match. Liverpool like to step up for the big games and our record there is bad. It may end up being bigger than the City/ Arsenal game