William Saliba has been a key player for Arsenal this season

WHILE Arsenal were almost able to field a full strength line-up for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday, there was clearly one big figure missing.

We will never know if the Gunners could have protected their 2-0 lead at Anfield if William Saliba had been fit, as his presence has added new solidity to Mikel Arteta’s team this season. In fact, he would probably be one of the first names on the teamsheet for the Gunners boss when he is available to play.

The French defender has been sidelined with a back issue since going off injured in the home leg of Arsenal’s Europa League tie with Sporting Lisbon on March 16.

Rob Holding has been praised for stepping up into the first team but conceded a clumsy penalty on Sunday which Arsenal were relieved to then see flicked wide of the post by Liverpool’s Mo Salah.

Assumptions have been made today (Tuesday) that Saliba will be forced to sit out the trip to West Ham United on Sunday, the next step in a tense title duel with in-form and big spending Manchester City.

He was not seen in pictures taken during training and this has sparked the suggestion that there is no way that he would be fit for the contest with the Irons.

It is understood, however, that Saliba is not as far away from game time as might have been guessed at and Arteta is closely monitoring updates from the physio room to see if he could play some role at the weekend. He has not been ruled out of making an appearance in what would be a huge boost for Arsenal.

At the same time, Arteta showed a cautious approach to easing Gabriel Jesus back into the starting XI after a long lay off caused by a World Cup injury in Qatar and will not do anything that risks losing Saliba for a longer period of time, especially when trips to City and Newcastle are coming up, as well as do-or-die derby with rivals Chelsea.

“Back injuries are a bit tricky and how they evolve with the load that you put in certain areas,” Arteta said last week. “Let’s push it and see how he copes with that. He’s so willing to be back in the team.”

Eddie Nketiah, the deputy centre forward, is making faster progress and is almost certain to be on the substitutes bench at the London Stadium.

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny, however, will not feature again this season.