How many games will William Saliba miss after Bournemouth red card?

Arsenal endured a nightmare of an evening at Bournemouth on Saturday, with the horrors on the South Coast kicking off with a William Saliba red card.

Saliba's dismissal meant the Gunners were playing a man down for the third time in eight Premier League games. On this occasion, Bournemouth made use of their advantage and inflicted the first defeat of the season upon Mikel Arteta's side thanks to second-half goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert - both of whom came off the bench.

There's reason to be concerned with the manner of Arsenal's defeat even if they were playing with ten for the majority. The Gunners struggled to get into the game 11-vs-11, with their sub-par technical level and lack of outlets meaning they often failed to bypass Bournemouth's cohesive press. The long ball up to Kai Havertz also proved ineffective.

It was a thoroughly deserved defeat, but there's an opportunity to bounce back in a big way over the next week. After hosting Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday, Arsenal welcome Liverpool to the Emirates on Sunday in a huge Premier League clash. However, they'll be without their star defender for the Reds' visit.

How many games will William Saliba miss after Bournemouth red card?

It didn't take long for supporters to realise that Saliba's red card on Saturday will mean he's suspended for the Liverpool game.

The Frenchman was initially booked by referee Rob Jones after pulling down Evanilson, who was attempting to latch onto Leandro Trossard's errant back pass. There was some distance from the goal but Saliba was the last man and preventing a clear goal-scoring opportunity, so it wasn't too much of a surprise when the video assistant referee instructed Jones to go over to the monitor and eventually upgrade Saliba's yellow to a red.

We typically associate red cards with three-match bans, but the nature of Saliba's dismissal means he'll only receive a one-match suspension. However, that, of course, means he'll be absent next week as the league leaders come to town.

Saliba will be eligible to play in the Champions League on Tuesday, and he can make his domestic return away at Newcastle on 2 November.

In his place, Jakub Kiwior struggled alongside Gabriel and is unlikely to get the nod next weekend. Arteta will be praying that Jurrien Timber is back fit with the Dutchman capable of filling in centrally. Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori are other alternatives.

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