Arsenal are gearing up for one of the biggest games of the season this weekend as they take on fellow Premier League title-chasers Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners fell to their first defeat of the season last week, losing 2-0 at Bournemouth, and will be eager to bounce back against the 2019-20 champions.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are flying high under new manager Arne Slot, winning seven of their eight league games this season and beating Chelsea 2-1 last time out.
Ahead of the game, Arsenal legend Paul Merson has admitted he’s “disappointed” in one of the Gunners’ main players for what he has recently done.
Paul Merson ‘disappointed’ with Arsenal defender William Saliba
Arsenal are set for a number of absences this weekend and, while most of them are either injuries or fitness doubts, there is also a suspension among the absentees.
William Saliba picked up a one-game domestic suspension for his red card in Arsenal’s defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The £190,000-a-week defender (Salarysport) made a poor split-second decision to pull Evanilson down once he was through on goal following Leandro Trossard’s wayward pass.
“Only time will tell if these red card offences will cost Arsenal the title,” Merson wrote on Sky Sports.
“It wasn’t a good result, three big points dropped. We had this problem early in Arsene Wenger’s reign, they suffered with sending offs, and they were not a dirty team, just physical.
“It’s a bit of luck here and there. When you’re playing for Arsenal, it’s a big club, in the heat of the moment you have to make cool decisions and on Saturday William Saliba does not have to do that.
“You’ve got to weigh things up. This is Arsenal, they will dominate, and the lad Evanilson still had to run half the length of the pitch with Saliba breathing down his neck – no disrespect, he’s not Erling Haaland.
“You have to be calm and collected at a big club like Arsenal, so I’m disappointed with what Saliba did there.”
Who could play in Arsenal defence against Liverpool
It would be bad enough for Arsenal were Saliba the only defensive absence against Liverpool, but they have other issues too.
Riccardo Calafiori suffered a suspected knee injury against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, while Jurrien Timber remains a doubt.
With that in mind, Arsenal could potentially look to use Jakub Kiwior at left-back, Ben White alongside Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-back, and Thomas Partey at right-back.
Needless to say, it’s not an ideal situation for the Gunners against a Liverpool side that boasts such a strong front line.
