William Saliba won't be in the Arsenal squad when they play Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Due to a back injury, William Saliba will be unable to play for Arsenal against Leeds United in the Premier League, but Mikel Arteta is optimistic that Thomas Partey will be ready.
Saliba, a French international, injured his leg during Arsenal's Europa League match against Sporting CP on March 16 and missed the next day's 4-1 league victory over Crystal Palace.
The 22-year-old, who has started 32 of Arsenal's 39 games this season, later withdrew from the France squad for their qualifications for Euro 2024 during the break in international play.
Saliba is still not ready, despite Arteta's hopes that the center-back would be fit in time for the Gunners' return to action on Saturday.
At the news conference before the game on Friday, Arteta stated that the player was improving but that his back pain persisted. He won't be in shape for this game.
Although we are making every effort to help him feel better, he is not yet ready.
There have been rumors that Saliba would miss most of Arsenal's final 10 league games, but Arteta does not believe that will happen.
Both he and I are really optimistic that he will return soon, Arteta added. "Back injuries are challenging because of the way they change as a result of the weight you apply to specific places.
"Let's make a push and see how he handles that. He is really eager to rejoin the team. We're pushing it every day and are quite optimistic about how the discomfort will progress.
Takehiro Tomiyasu also hobbled off against Sporting, and his season has since been called off. Arsenal was eliminated from the Europa League as a result.
Nevertheless, Arsenal experienced another injury scare over the week when crucial player Partey missed Ghana's 1-1 tie with Angola due to precautions.
But, the 29-year-old is set to play as Arsenal looks to hold onto or even increase their eight-point lead at the top against 14th-place Leeds at the Emirates Stadium.
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