Why Arsenal should use Kieran Tierney against Man City

David Ornstein delivered the news all Arsenal fans were fearing on Monday morning, with William Saliba ruled out of the trip to City on Wednesday and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium next week.

Since his injury, Arsenal have conceded nine goals in five games, and seven in their last three, highlighting just how important he is. Something needs to be done, but could Kieran Tierney be the solution after Rob Holding’s patchy performances?

Could Kieran Tierney be the option with William Saliba out against Man City?

As a one-on-one defender, Tierney is up there with the best and has previously played right-back five times for Scotland, so the position isn’t completely alien to him, and it would provide a similar solution to how Mikel Arteta utilised Takehiro Tomiasu against Mo Salah at the Emirates earlier this season.

Left-footed right-backs are extremely uncommon, and Tierney doesn’t have the two-footed ability that Tomiyasu has. However, when Grealish cuts back, or makes his mazy diagonal runs, he’d be coming inside to Tierney’s stronger foot, giving him a real advantage one on one. This could force Grealish to go outside, where he is still strong, but it’s not the killer part of his game we’ve come to know.

Many will argue that it would hinder the relationship between Bukayo Saka and Ben White, and it would. There’s no getting away from that. But, either way, something is going to be slightly broken, and we’ve seen how Holding’s inclusion has affected Thomas Partey and Gabriel so far.

With White at centre back, Arsenal have the ability to control the ball and contain the City press in the middle, something which they lack with Holding in that role.

It also means fewer moving parts, with three of the first-choice back four remaining, the system staying the same, and Oleksandr Zinchenko still tasked with inverting from the area he has been playing all season.

The best solution appears to be shifting Ben White into a central position alongside Gabriel to ensure Arsenal have the pace and technical security they have lost with Saliba, and the most obvious solution is to bring Tierney into the lineup at either left or right back, and play Zinchenko on the opposite side to him.

This solution prevents a complete system change, such as going to a back five, where Saka, Odegaard and Martinelli would be tasked with doing completely different jobs from the ones that have made them so important all season.

They are the three players most likely to affect the game for Arsenal at the other end of the pitch, and that much be protected at all costs.

With that in mind, Tieney should not be overlooked if Arteta is willing to drop Holding.