Journalist Freddie Paxton noticed one apparent absentee from Arsenal’s pre-match walk ahead of their clash against Liverpool this afternoon.
Mikel Arteta’s squad undertook a morning stroll around the Merseyside city prior to the 4:30pm kick-off at Anfield, with one player seemingly not among the group.
The Gunners-supporting reporter tweeted (via @Freddie_Paxton): “William Saliba was not spotted with the team on their pre-match walk in Liverpool this morning.”
As per football.london, the French defender hasn’t featured since incurring a back problem against Sporting Lisbon last month and wasn’t featured among training photos that Arsenal shared ahead of today’s match.
At surface level, Paxton’s observation may suggest that the 22-year-old could be a doubt to feature for Arteta’s team against the Reds.
If Saliba’s missing for the game at Anfield, he’d certainly be a loss to Arsenal’s backline – as per WhoScored, he ranks second in the Premier League leaders’ squad both for aerial duels won (two per game) and clearances made (three per match) in the current campaign.
Those returns mark him out as a no-nonsense defender, while he can also make an impact in the opposition penalty area, having scored three times so far this season (Transfermarkt).
However, it’s worth noting that Arteta said in recent days that he’s ‘very hopeful’ the Frenchman will be able to return soon (via talkSPORT), so the centre-back’s potential involvement today shouldn’t be completely discounted.
He may not have partaken in the pre-match walk, but that could be a precautionary measure as Arsenal carefully manage his fitness. It’ll be quite interesting to see if he does feature on the team sheet when it’s released at roughly 3:30 this afternoon.
You can see Paxton’s tweet on Saliba below, shared via @Freddie_Paxton on Twitter:
⚠️ William Saliba was not spotted with the team on their pre-match walk in Liverpool this morning.
— Freddie Paxton (@Freddie_Paxton) April 9, 2023