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Given that Arsenal started the season with seven successive victories, featuring five clean sheets, prior to Saturday's disaster against Brighton, the impact of William Saliba's absence has somewhat been forgotten. If you asked any Gooner to rank the players this team can most ill afford to be without, the French centre-back would be towards the top of everyone's list.
It is to the credit of understudies Cristhian Mosquera and more recently Ezri Konsa that many have forgotten the fact that Saliba is currently not available. Th 25 year old's first public appearance since the World Cup came at the PFA Awards, having been named in the Team of the Season for a fourth successive year, this a reminder of Saliba's quality and presence.
Despite, broadly, doing just fine without him, everyone connected with Arsenal is desperate to see Saliba return sooner rather than later. So, might we now know when this could be? According to a report by Fabrice Hawkins of RMC Sport, the centre-back "could make his return to competition in December, if all goes well".
He adds that Saliba is "currently continuing his recovery". This is really the first update we have had on the defender's fitness since it was confirmed in mid-July that he will not have surgery on his fractured back. The Arsenal medical team decided to let the issue heal naturally, which may take longer now, but the thinking being that, long-term, this will hopefully resolve the issue for good.
Well, before the start of December, Arteta's team still have 13 more matches to play. Next month's Champions League trip to Bayern Munich and a top of the table Premier League clash against Manchester City on 29 November are the fixtures the leap off the page, not even mentioning the visit to Anfield on 1 November.
Thus, were Saliba to return for the start of December, he would obviously require time to be eased back in. Well, the Gunners' festive schedule may not make this overly feasible.
Arsenal's fixture (2 December - 5 January)
- 2 or 3 December: Brentford (A). Premier League.
- 5 or 6 December: Tottenham Hotspur (A). Premier League.
- Wednesday 9 December: Real Madrid (H). Champions League. Kick off 8pm.
- 12 or 13 December: Bournemouth (H). Premier League.
- 15, 16 or 17 December: Possible EFL Cup quarter-final.
- 19, 20 or 21 December: Manchester United (H). Premier League.
- Sunday 27 December: Crystal Palace (A). Premier League. Kick off 7pm.
- Wednesday 30 December: Fulham (A). Premier League. Kick off 7:30pm.
- Saturday 2 January: Ipswich Town (H). Premier League. Kick off 3pm.
- Tuesday 5 January: Brentford (H). Premier League. Kick off 7:30pm.
Arsenal's fixtures, particularly towards the start of December, are all very challenging. Arteta is not going to want to throw an undercooked Saliba into a North London derby, nor a clash with Real Madrid. Even the Carabao Cup quarter-final, assuming the Gunners overcome Fleetwood, will be against Premier League opposition, unless they draw the winners of Bradford vs Peterborough.
Thus, perhaps January's FA Cup ties, or the visit from Azerbaijani champions Sabah, will potentially be the first time Arsenal can cruise through a game, but hopefully Saliba will be fit and firing by then.
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