Arsenal handed shocking title run blow with star players to miss rest of season amid injury blow
Arsenal duo William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko will miss the rest of season due to respective injuries.
That is according to The Athletic, who have reported that despite the blow, neither Gunners defender requires surgery. Saliba has missed the last two months of action due to a lower back issue, with Mikel Arteta’s side struggling defensively in his absence.
Rob Holding had replaced the French international in the starting line-up, with the north Londoners conceding 13 times in six fixtures before he was displaced by January signing Jakub Kiwior in each of the last two Premier League outings. Kiwior has performed admirably in those two matches, a 3-1 win over Chelsea and a 2-0 victory away to Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, full-back Zinchenko was forced off during Sunday afternoon’s clash against the Magpies due to a calf problem. Arsenal have just three matches remaining this term, against Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Wolves, with Kieran Tierney likely to deputise for the former Manchester City star at left-back.
Tierney has found first-team opportunities hard to come by since Zinchenko joined from City last summer. The Scottish international has struggled when deployed in Arteta’s favoured inverted role, more suited to being deployed as a more orthodox byline-style fullback.
He has since been linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium and both Newcastle and Aston Villa are said to be monitoring his situation ahead of the summer transfer window.
