Arsenal rocked by major fitness blow ahead of Newcastle United and Chelsea matches

Arsenal currently sit second in the Premier League and trail Manchester City by a solitary point at the top of the table. Their title challenge has faltered of late, but Arteta’s side can get their challenge back on track this week when they face two huge games against Chelsea and Newcastle United.

However, the Gunners will likely have to do this without defender William Saliba. Saliba limped-off during their Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon in March and has missed their last six games with a back-injury. And speaking ahead of the game with Chelsea, Arteta ruled the Frenchman out of their game with the Blues.

“He's not going to be involved tomorrow.” Areta said. “We will have to wait until the next game to see where we are.”

That next game is a huge clash at St James’ Park with Newcastle United in a fixture that saw Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League dashed last season. The Magpies will go into Sunday’s game having taken 24 points from a possible 27 and know that a win over the title-chasers would be a huge step towards a top-four finish this season.

When asked about the impact of Saliba’s absence, Arteta was keen to detail how his side have been able to deal with injury setbacks throughout the season. Arteta said: “[He’s] a very important player but I don’t know how to quantify that. Gabriel Jesus has been out for four months, Eddie Nketiah three months [Emile] Smith-Rowe four and a half months, Kieran Tierney out for a few weeks and [Takehiro] Tomiyasu out for three and a half months and maybe now six months. This is football.”

Whilst Saliba is touch-and-go for a return to action on Sunday, Mohamed Elneny will certainly miss the game at St James’ Park as he continues his recovery from a knee-injury that has kept him out of action since January. Newcastle, meanwhile, could have Sean Longstaff back in-contention for a start on Sunday, but will be without club-captain Jamaal Lascelles.