4-second footage shows the moment where Saliba may have suffered serious back injury at Arsenal

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Arsenal fans have been left panicked by the news that William Saliba will miss Wednesday’s potential title decider through injury.

The France international is still yet to recover from a back injury which he seemingly suffered in the 2-2 draw against Sporting Lisbon, as he lasted just 21 minutes until Mikel Arteta was forced to substitute him.

However, it appears Saliba may have actually damaged his back in Arsenal‘s 3-0 win against Fulham before that trip to Lisbon, as footage has now emerged on Twitter.

What’s the story?

Well, a four-second video shows Saliba falling awkwardly on his back after being knocked off balance by Aaron Ramsdale.

You can see the footage in question below.

It was The Athletic who revealed that Saliba will miss Wednesday’s trip to Manchester City.

Arteta actually addressed questions over when and where the Frenchman suffered his injury, with Football London quoting the Spaniard as saying: “It’s something that happened. We don’t know if it happened previous game because he had a very awkward landing against Fulham.”

Whether it happened from the fall in the above video, or against Sporting Lisbon, Saliba’s injury has had a significant impact on the Premier League title race.

How Saliba injury is hurting Arsenal

With Saliba injured, Rob Holding has been thrown into the starting XI by Arteta.

With all due respect to the Arsenal No.16 – who has delivered some outstanding performances for Arsenal when called upon over the years – his lack of pace in comparison to the rapid Saliba has a seismic impact on how Arteta wants to play.

Holding’s lack of recovery speed means Arsenal cannot adopt a high defensive line, as it leaves him and Gabriel Magalhaes vulnerable to balls over the top.

It is also having an impact down the right flank, as Ben White often finds himself tucking in to help Holding combat these speedy opposition forwards.

That has limited Bukayo Saka, as the Arsenal No.7 sees a lot less of the ball in dangerous areas without the Arsenal No.4 overlapping him or feeding it to his feet in dangerous areas.

Hopefully, Saliba can return to action as soon as possible – his absence is proving that Arsenal’s No.12 is one of the most important players at the Emirates Stadium.