Mikel Arteta delivers injury update on William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of Southampton clash

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will be without William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko for tomorrow’s clash against Southampton. 

Saliba has missed Arsenal’s last four games with a back injury which he picked up in a Europa League meeting with Sporting Lisbon, while Zinchenko was a shock absentee from the clash against West Ham United on Sunday.

Arsenal could have done with having both men in action last time out as they threw away a two-goal lead for the second successive week.

“No big news – the picture hasn’t changed from last week,” Arteta told the club’s official website.

“Regarding William [Saliba], we still need to wait a little bit more. He’s not progressing as quickly as we hoped.

“It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he’s ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take.

“At the moment, that’s not possible to do. I don’t know [if it’s a season-ending injury] – it’s a bit early. Probably next week, we’ll have more certainty.”

While Zinchenko’s injury is not nearly as serious as Saliba’s, Arteta stated that the Ukrainian will also miss the Southampton game.

“We will see that one as well – it’s not certain,” the Gunners manager added.

“It’s a muscular injury and he needs some time to heal – we’re not there yet.”

The continued absence of Saliba and Zinchenko means that Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney are set to retain their place in the starting XI.

Having seen their lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to four points, Arsenal cannot afford another slip-up before they visit the Etihad Stadium to face title rivals Manchester City next Wednesday.