CONFIRMED: Arsenal lose defensive duo for the rest of the season

CONFIRMED: Arsenal lose defensive duo for the rest of the season

Ayoola Kelechi 22:46 - 11.05.2023

Arsenal's title chase has been made more complicated by the loss of two of their defensive stalwarts

Arsenal have suffered further blows to their already cascading season as they have now had key defenders Oleksandr Zinchenko and William Saliba ruled out for the rest of the season.

Arsenal lose key defensive duo

Arsenal still have three games left in the Premier League season as they look to wrestle the league title from the grip of Manchester City, but they will have to face the daunting task without two of their best players. 

Zinchenko suffered an unknown injury believed to be muscular during Arsenal’s win over Newcastle and it has now been determined that the Ukrainian will play no further part in the Gunners’ season. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Saliba has been out of contention since getting injured against Sporting CP in the Europa League, and while there was hope that he would return at some point this season, he has run out of time and lost the fitness battle, joining Zinchencko on the sidelines until next season. 

Arsenal’s struggles without Saliba

The losses hurt Arsenal who are fighting to overturn Manchester City’s current one-point advantage and usurp the Cityzens as champions to claim a first league title since 2004. 

Without Saliba especially, the Gunners have struggled to maintain their form, dropping points in four of the eight matches the French defender has missed, compared to only six times in the 27 games he has started. 

Having found some form in recent wins against Chelsea and Newcastle, the Gunners will be hoping to put the loss of their star defenders behind them to continue their push for the Premier League title. 

Related content