Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba will play for the Arsenal u21s this weekend, as the defender builds up his minutes after injury.
After featuring on the bench for Arsenal in midweek for the first time this season, William Saliba dropped out of the senior squad for Saturday’s game against Hull City, sparking some concern in the Gunners fanbase.
But Mikel Arteta explained that the absence was partly just because there are fewer spots available in the Premier League squads, but largely because they were planning to give Saliba minutes in Arsenal’s next under-21 match.
“He needs some minutes,” Arteta said. “Obviously, the Champions League allows you to bring more players into the bench, but we believe that it’s the best thing to do, to play some minutes on the weekend with under-21s and then be fully fit for the international break.”
The Arsenal u21s are set to face Aston Villa at the young Gunners’ home ground of Meadow Park on Sunday afternoon, with the match kicking off at 14:00 GMT.
Arsenal have committed to streaming the match, so fans will be able to tune in and see how Saliba gets on.
But it’s worth mentioning that the u21s haven’t been in the best form in the Premier League 2, sitting 26th out of 31 teams and losing their most recent league fixture 4-1 to Leicester City.
In fact, the team are yet to win a single league game this season, though they have at least won two EFL Trophy matches. Saliba will have his work cut out to help the u21s to that first win on Sunday.
Arsenal academy centre-back Marli Salmon should be available to start alongside Saliba, fresh from his call-up to the England u18s. So at the very least, the Gunners should have a strong pairing in the centre of their defence for the match.
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