Arsenal guaranteed to be without three for West Ham after Saliba update

FOOTBALL LONDON

Arsenal will continue to be without defender William Saliba for this weekend’s Premier League clash with West Ham United, Mikel Arteta has confirmed.

The Frenchman has missed the last three games after suffering a back injury in the Europa League exit to Sporting CP several weeks ago. In the three games in his absence, the Gunners have failed to keep a single clean sheet against Crystal Palace, Leeds and Liverpool.

After reports that the 22-year-old was nowhere to be seen in Tuesday’s open training session, Arteta confirmed on Friday that Saliba remains unavailable for selection. “William [Saliba] is still not available,” the Gunners boss said.

“He’s progressing well and we’re hopeful that we’ll have him available in the next few weeks. We’ll have to see.” Arteta continued. “He’s not far off starting to do that [back on grass]. Obviously we need to be cautious because of the injury but he’s evolving well.”

Despite the blow of Saliba’s return, Arteta was on hand to provide a positive update on Eddie Nketiah. The striker has missed the last seven games due to an ankle injury, however he was part of the training session on Monday.