Arsenal dealt new quadruple injury worry as Mikel Arteta explains William Saliba substitution
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori were all injured against Crystal Palace.
Saliba did not reappear in the second half at the Emirates Stadium, while Rice and Calafiori were substituted late on as the Gunners won 1-0 to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points.
Advertisement
Arteta also confirmed that Gabriel Martinelli “felt something” after limping down the tunnel after the match.
Speaking after the match, Arteta said: “First up was Willy who obviously had to be out after the first half.
William Salba did not reappear in the second half (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“Declan also struggled in the first half with a knock he took, and who was the other one? Ricky too. So yeah, let’s see how they recover.
“On Willy, there are two things related to his replacement and with Declan, I don’t really know because it was a knock. But I don’t know if it was the calf or the Achilles tendon or what exactly.
Asked if Martinelli was okay, Arteta replied: “Yeah, I think so.
Advertisement
“We need to check this one out. He was a little uncomfortable. He said he felt something. We don’t know if it’s a muscular problem or not. Tomorrow we’ll have more news.”
Arteta also revealed that Bukayo Saka is not feeling well.
“He hasn’t really trained,” Arteta said. “So we didn’t know if he would be fit.
“He made a big effort to be available today. The doctor was also great in guiding us, to give us the best opportunity also to be in the best possible condition.
“So he managed to play a few minutes, but the longer the match went on, the more he was going to get tired and risk injury. And we didn’t want to take that risk.”