Blow for Arsenal as William Saliba suffers delay in comeback from injury

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta reveals French defender will miss Southampton game and 'is not progressing as quickly as we hoped' from back problem

Arsenal defender William Saliba has missed the past four games due to injury. Getty

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted that he is unsure when defender William Saliba will return from the back injury that has seen him miss the last four matches.

The Gunners have seen their lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table cut to four points, with Pep Guardiola's side having a game in hand on their title rivals.

And Arsenal have shown some defensive frailties of late, having thrown away two-goal leads against both Liverpool and West Ham. But hopes that Saliba – who had started every Premier League game this season before being forced off during the Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon last month – will soon be returning have been dashed.

The France international has been ruled out of Friday's game with bottom club Southampton and is now a major doubt for the crucial clash against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium next week.

“The picture hasn't changed from last week. Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more,” Arteta said on the eve of the Southampton game at the Emirates.

“He is 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 is ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take and at the moment that's not possible to do.

“Probably next week we will have a little bit more certainty. He is not ready yet to throw him on the pitch and compete with the intensity demanded in this league.”

Also missing for the game against the Saints at the Emirates will be left-back Oleksandr Zincheckno, who was absent for last week's game at West Ham.

West Ham 2 Arsenal 2: Player ratings

WEST HAM RATINGS: Lukasz Fabianski - 6. Forced into a routine save by Martinelli just after the restart. Made a number of decent saves in the second half. AFP

Aaron Cresswell - 6. Was nowhere to be found as Odegaard found space on the right to score the Gunners’ second goal. Sent in a number of dangerous crosses in the second half. Reuters

Vladimir Coufal - 6. Switched off at the back post and allowed Jesus a simple tap-in for the Gunners’ opener. Limited the influence of Martinelli in the second half. Reuters

Kurt Zouma - 7. Did well to stop a Saka cross from finding Odegaard in the 29th minute. Crucial in the air for West Ham in the second half. AFP

Thilo Kehrer - 7. Failed to get close to White quickly enough to prevent him from finding Jesus in the build-up to Arsenal’s first goal. Played a delightful ball over the Gunners’ defence and into the path of Bowen for the Hammers’ second goal. PA

Declan Rice - 7. Began the move that led to the Hammers’ opener by pressing high and winning the ball from Partey. Crucial to everything positive the Hammers did in the second half. Getty

Lucas Paqueta - 7. Fouled by Gabriel to gift the Hammers a penalty in the 32nd minute. Almost gifted the visitors a goal in the 69th minute after his misplaced pass Saka to kickstarted a counterattack for the Gunners. Getty

Tomas Soucek - 6. Backed off from Martinelli and allowed him to play in the cross for Arsenal’s second goal. Stopped a Saka shot from troubling Fabianski just after the break. AP

Jarrod Bowen - 8. Brought the Hammers level with a left-footed finish to send the fans into delirium. Sent a teasing ball into the Gunners’ penalty area in the 57th minute but there was no West Ham shirt on hand to take advantage. Getty

Said Benrahma - 8. Expertly dispatched the penalty that brought the Hammers back into the game. Whipped in a decent cross that caused chaos in the Gunners’ penalty area midway into the second half. Getty

Michail Antonio - 7. Caused problems for Arsenal defenders early in the game with his directness. Breathed a huge sigh of relief when Saka hit his spot kick wide after he had handled Martinelli’s shot to concede the penalty. Hit the crossbar with a glancing header in the last ten minutes. Getty

SUBS: Maxwel Cornet (Antonio, 88) - N/A. Flynn Downes (Paqueta, 88) - N/A. Pablo Fornals (Benrahma, 90) - N/A. PA

ARSENAL RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale - 6. Made a routine save to keep out Antonio’s header 38th minute. Could have done better for the Hammers‘ second goal. Reuters

Kieran Tierney - 7. Used in the Zinchenko role, Tierney added defensive solidity to the Gunners’ left flank. Played a dangerous cross across the face of goal in the 64th minute. Reuters

Ben White - 7. Credited with the assist for Arsenal’s opener with a nice cutback into the penalty area for Jesus. Failed to get the connection right with Saka in the second half. Getty

Rob Holding - 5. Had a nervy start to the game with a couple of physical battles with Antonio. Made the wrong decision of trying to outrun Benrahma and almost cost the Gunners a goal in the 81st minute. AFP

Gabriel Magalhaes - 6. Made an excellent last-man challenge to stop Antonio from running through on goal on the half hour mark. Responsible for conceding the penalty that helped the Hammers cut the deficit in the first half. AFP

Thomas Partey - 5. Lost possession which led to the Gunners conceding a penalty for the Hammers to pull one back. Never fully recovered from that error and got subbed off for Jorginho in the second half. PA

Granit Xhaka - 6. Had a quiet game in the middle of the pitch for the Gunners. Kept things simple. Reuters

Martin Odegaard - 7. Heavily involved in the build-up to the Gunners’ first goal and scored the second with a cushioned left-footed finish at the back post. Never stopped trying as the Gunners looked to regain the lead in second half. Getty

Bukayo Saka - 4. Stepped up but hit his spot kick wide when he had the chance to score the Gunners’ third in the 51st minute. Could only manage a tame effort when he had the chance to test Fabianski later on. AP

Gabriel Martinelli - 6. Assisted Odegaard’s goal with an inch-perfect cross to the back post. Antonio handled his shot into the penalty area to gift the Gunners a penalty in the second half. EPA

Gabriel Jesus - 7. Scored the Gunners opener with a simple tap-in at the back post into an empty net. Dropped very deep to help the Gunners facilitate play from the back. PA

SUBS: Leandro Trossard (Jesus, 66) - 6. Almost slipped Martinelli through with a deft pass in the 80th minute. Dropped back to help in the build-up as the Gunners chased a winner. Reuters

Jorginho (Partey, 66) - 6. Helped the Gunners regain control of proceedings in the second half but couldn’t provide the final pass to breach the Hammers’ backline. PA

Fabio Vieira (Tierney, 85) - N/A. Reiss Nelson (Martinelli, 85) - N/A. Eddie Nketiah (Odegaard, 90) - N/A. Reuters

“We are not certain,” said Arteta, when asked about when the Ukrainian would be back in action. “It is a muscular injury and he needs some time to heal. We are not there yet.”

Arsenal cannot afford any slip-ups with the Manchester City game looming as they take on a Southampton propping up the table four points from safety and who are without a win since beating Leicester City on March 4.

The North London club were beating Liverpool and West Ham 2-0 after flying out of the blocks at the start of both games before having to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Bukayo Saka missed a penalty that would have put the visitors 3-1 up at the London Stadium, his first failure from the spot since his effort was saved in the Euro 2020 final shoot-out.

But the 21-year-old is still enjoying a stellar season – having scored 13 Premier League goals and provided 10 assists – and Arteta believes Saka can take positives from the penalty miss.

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka after missing a penalty against West Ham. EPA

“Experiences help, obviously, and what he went through was tough but in a different way it was something beautiful and a great experience for him,” said the Spaniard.

“I think that helped him, not only him but the people around him as well to understand what the reaction has to be, the support and protection that he needs and he will go again.

“He loves responsibility but he puts a lot on his shoulders as well. Again, if he had any doubt about how much people love him, respect him and admire him at the club I think he had a very overwhelming reaction from everyone in the building and the club.

“In the end I think it can be something very positive that can give him a big lift because everyone acted in an unbelievable way towards him because he deserves it because of the way he is.”

Asked whether Saka would remain Arsenal's penalty taker, Arteta added: “Yes. If not, I will go on the pitch and throw him the ball to make sure he takes the next one!”