William Gallas fears Arsenal will have to make do with winning just a solitary trophy this season despite still being in contention to win three pieces of silverware.
The Gunners’ hopes of landing an unprecedented quadruple evaporated prior to the international break following their Carabao Cup final defeat against Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s side are back in action against Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday evening and will hope to bounce back, ahead of resuming their Champions League campaign in midweek.
Despite being in a strong position in Europe and odds-on facourites to progress to the semi-final of a competition that represents the only major trophy Arteta has won in his six years at the helm, Gallas believes it is the Premier League title that will be heading to the Emirates Stadium in May.
Gallas told football odds: ‘Can Arsenal win the treble? I think Arsenal will win one trophy and that’s the Premier League.
‘They still have to be careful but normally they would win the Premier League from this position.
‘Champions League? I don’t think so. The FA Cup all depends on the result between Liverpool and Manchester City.
‘If it’s Manchester City in the final, I think Manchester City will win. If it’s Liverpool vs Arsenal in the final, Arsenal will win. It’s a different style and I think Liverpool’s style suits Arsenal better.’
Arteta, meanwhile, will be taking stock of his squad this afternoon ahead of the trip to St Mary’s amid fears that at least 10 of his players are carrying injuries.
William Saliba was among one of a clutch of players who opted out of playing for his country. Gallas conceded the centre-half was playing a dangerous game, if he wasn’t seriously injured, ahead of the World Cup but believes Arteta has been shrewd in guarding against some potentially untimely setbacks.
‘I saw the news on William Saliba when Didier Deschamps gave the list for those two games and Saliba was in that list but he didn’t go because he was injured, but I saw the Carabao Cup final and Saliba played the whole game,’ Gallas added.
‘I think Arsenal have protected their players. I don’t know if they are really injured.
‘For me, it’s very difficult to understand if you play 90 minutes plus in the final and nothing happened, nobody saw anything on him, and then they sent a message to the French national team to say he’s injured.
‘They tried to protect their players to not get one more game in their legs because now it will be like a sprint for the rest of the season.
‘They’ve still got three competitions to win in the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League. They tried to be very careful with the players in the international break.
‘It’s about the agreements between the club and the national teams. If the national team asks for that player, the player has to go there.
‘I don’t know what was discussed between the medical staff from the national team and from the club.
‘If every club does the same, there’d be no international football. That shows you as well the pressure Arsenal have got on their shoulders. That’s why they did it.’