Arsenal have been handed a potentially devastating blow after William Saliba was sent off against Bournemouth, with the defender set to miss out on his side's clash against Liverpool next Sunday.
The defender was initially shown a yellow card for fouling Evanilson, who was racing away towards goal after Leandro Trossard's loose backpass from the left of the pitch near the halfway line.
Bournemouth players were incensed by the original decision to only caution the centre-back, but referee Robert Jones was later advised by the VAR to look at the incident again.
Saliba's yellow card was rescinded in favour of a red, with the Frenchman adjudged to have prevented a goalscoring opportunity by committing a last-man foul, and he will now serve a one-game ban.
The Gunners lost 2-0 against the Cherries, but more concerning for Mikel Arteta will be the fact that the red card means he will be unable to select arguably one of the Premier League's finest defenders when they host title rivals Liverpool on October 27 at the Emirates.
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Record without Saliba
It is difficult to describe the importance of Saliba to Arsenal, both in terms of his value on the ball and his value out of possession.
Perhaps his influence is best illustrated by the end of the 2022-23 Premier League season, a campaign in which he missed the Gunners' last 11 league matches, with Arteta's side winning five, drawing three and losing two in that period.
Arsenal had only lost three times in the prior 27 top-flight fixtures, drawing three times and winning on 21 occasions.
In 2023-24, the Frenchman featured in all 38 games of his team's Premier League season, and it is no coincidence that Arteta's side conceded the fewest goals and faced the fewest shots on target of any club.
Against Bournemouth on Saturday evening, the Gunners had 51% possession and faced 13 shots while only producing six efforts of their own.
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Crisis: missing stars
The Gunners were already without both Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard against Bournemouth due to injury, and now that they have lost Saliba to suspension, Arteta will have to somehow reconfigure his team in time for his side's match against Liverpool.
Arteta was positive during pre-match interviews about the fitness of Saka, though Odegaard is unlikely to be thrown straight into the starting XI against the Reds should he be declared fit enough for Sunday's clash.
One of Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori or Jakub Kiwior are probable candidates to replace the suspended Saliba, and at least the trio all have considerable experience of operating at centre-back despite predominantly featuring as full-backs for Arteta.
If Odegaard fails to recover in time for his side's match against Arne Slot's Liverpool, it would not be surprising if Arsenal opted for a more direct approach next Sunday, relying on the blistering speed of the likes of Gabriel Martinelli to threaten in behind.
Arsenal demonstrated against Manchester City that when their backs are against the wall, their defence can rise to the challenge and prevail in the face of adversity, so perhaps the Gunners can still earn a positive result against the Reds.
Lewis Nolan
