Arsenal have been dealt a blow after Mikel Arteta confirmed that William Saliba’s absence from the clash against Brighton and Hove Albion was due to an ankle problem.
The 24-year-old had opened the scoring in Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea last weekend, a result that restored the Gunners’ five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
However, concerns began to circulate among supporters online when he was not pictured in Wednesday’s training at the Sobha Reality Training Centre.
It was later confirmed that the French defender was nursing an injury concern in the aftermath of last weekend’s London derby win, which ultimately ruled him out of the matchday squad for the league clash with Brighton.
At this stage, there is still no certainty over whether Saliba will be fit in time for Arsenal’s FA Cup fifth-round trip to Mansfield Town this weekend, though he might have been given a rest for that encounter regardless.
A statement via the Arsenal official website reads: ‘Saliba misses out after picking up an issue against Chelsea, so Mosquera starts alongside Gabriel in one of two changes from our win at the weekend.’
Asked about Saliba’s absence before kickoff, Mikel Arteta revealed that an issue sustained against Chelsea has ruled the centre-back out of action at the AMEX Stadium on Wednesday night.
‘He turned his ankle against Chelsea. He managed to finish the game somehow, but he was too sore to play today. ‘ Arteta told reporters ahead of the match.
Mosquera, who filled in for the injured Saliba, wasn’t out of place and showed another impressive display alongside Gabriel Magalhães, much to the delight of the manager.
‘He’s been great,’ Arteta added. ‘Obviously, Wilo (Saliba) is in the partnership that we normally play, but Cristhian showed that we can fully trust him.’
Bukayo Saka scored the decisive goal in an otherwise underwhelming display from the Gunners as they edged past a spirited Brighton side.
Across the full 90 minutes, Arsenal struggled to create meaningful attacking danger, yet Brighton equally failed to apply sustained pressure on the visitors or generate enough clear-cut chances, with Carlos Baleba coming closest.
While Arsenal came into this clash with a better win ratio with Saliba in the side (69%) than without (42%), the Gunners did enough to extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points ahead of Manchester City, who drew 2-2 against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad.