Mikel Arteta admits William Saliba sustained injury BEFORE start of Arsenal’s defeat at Liverpool

William Saliba hobbled off less than five minutes into Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool, although his injury seemingly wasn’t news to Mikel Arteta. With less than five minutes played at Anfield, the centre-back went down on the turf and it quickly became clear he couldn’t continue. Saliba appeared to hurt himself with just minutes on the clockGetty Cristhian Mosquera was the man to replace Saliba in the back line. Saliba could join Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus as the latest absentee for Arsenal. “He came over to this near touchline, right in front of the Arsenal dugout to make a clearance and he pulled up awkwardly after that clearance and went down a couple of minutes later,” talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent said live on air. “Arsenal took no chances. Christian Mosquera, one of their summer signings, immediately sent on in his place. It looks like another muscular problem. “We’ve seen a few of those already in these early weeks of the season. No Saka for Arsenal this afternoon. “Martin Odegaard, their captain, fit enough only for a place on the bench. And, well, it’s a big game, isn’t it, for Mosquera to come into.” Arsenal legend Perry Groves added: “Huge setback. It looks muscular. “Then you just hope that it’s not going to be too serious. But it’s a big, big test for Mosquera. “Obviously, Gabriel, who’s the captain today for Arsenal, he’s got to take responsibility. Young Mosquera needs talking through the game. “So, yeah, it’s a huge, huge blow for Arsenal. But you get these in the season. Saliba departed the field of play early on at AnfieldGetty “Now it will be a test of how strong and how deep the squad is.” Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winning goal for Liverpool with an outstanding free-kick in the 83rd minute. It’s a result that keeps Liverpool top of the Premier League with a 100 per cent record. Did Arsenal take a chance on Saliba? However, post-match comments from Arteta suggest that Arsenal decided to gamble on Saliba’s fitness. It remains to be seen how long Saliba will be out forGetty The Gunners boss revealed that Saliba sustained an injury before the match even started. “I am very disappointed with the result. I’m very proud of my players,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “Both [sets of] players had to dig in to a level where there was nothing between the two. It was going to be decided by an individual error or a moment of magic. “You cannot dominate here for 90 minutes, it is impossible. At the end of the game, I said we have to find a way to win these big matches. “You have to put the ball in the back of the net when you have it. We were much better than last year, much better. We have to put the ball in the back of the net if you want to win the game. “We lost Martin [Odegaard], we lost Kai [Havertz] and then we lost Bukayo [Saka]. In the warm-up we lost Saliba.” The Gunners signed Mosquera as defensive cover earlier in the summer. And talkSPORT previously reported their interest in Piero Hincapie of Bayer Leverkusen with the signing set to be announced before Monday’s deadline.

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Mikel Arteta admits William Saliba sustained injury BEFORE start of Arsenal’s defeat at Liverpool

William Saliba hobbled off less than five minutes into Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool, although his injury seemingly wasn’t news to Mikel Arteta.

With less than five minutes played at Anfield, the centre-back went down on the turf and it quickly became clear he couldn’t continue.

Saliba appeared to hurt himself with just minutes on the clock

Cristhian Mosquera was the man to replace Saliba in the back line.

Saliba could join Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus as the latest absentee for Arsenal.

“He came over to this near touchline, right in front of the Arsenal dugout to make a clearance and he pulled up awkwardly after that clearance and went down a couple of minutes later,” talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent said live on air.

“Arsenal took no chances. Christian Mosquera, one of their summer signings, immediately sent on in his place. It looks like another muscular problem.

“We’ve seen a few of those already in these early weeks of the season. No Saka for Arsenal this afternoon.

“Martin Odegaard, their captain, fit enough only for a place on the bench. And, well, it’s a big game, isn’t it, for Mosquera to come into.”

Arsenal legend Perry Groves added: “Huge setback. It looks muscular.

“Then you just hope that it’s not going to be too serious. But it’s a big, big test for Mosquera.

“Obviously, Gabriel, who’s the captain today for Arsenal, he’s got to take responsibility. Young Mosquera needs talking through the game.

“So, yeah, it’s a huge, huge blow for Arsenal. But you get these in the season.

Saliba departed the field of play early on at Anfield

“Now it will be a test of how strong and how deep the squad is.”

Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winning goal for Liverpool with an outstanding free-kick in the 83rd minute.

It’s a result that keeps Liverpool top of the Premier League with a 100 per cent record.

Did Arsenal take a chance on Saliba?

However, post-match comments from Arteta suggest that Arsenal decided to gamble on Saliba’s fitness.

It remains to be seen how long Saliba will be out for

The Gunners boss revealed that Saliba sustained an injury before the match even started.

“I am very disappointed with the result. I’m very proud of my players,” Arteta told Sky Sports.

“Both [sets of] players had to dig in to a level where there was nothing between the two. It was going to be decided by an individual error or a moment of magic.

“You cannot dominate here for 90 minutes, it is impossible. At the end of the game, I said we have to find a way to win these big matches.

“You have to put the ball in the back of the net when you have it. We were much better than last year, much better. We have to put the ball in the back of the net if you want to win the game.

“We lost Martin [Odegaard], we lost Kai [Havertz] and then we lost Bukayo [Saka]. In the warm-up we lost Saliba.”

The Gunners signed Mosquera as defensive cover earlier in the summer.

And talkSPORT previously reported their interest in Piero Hincapie of Bayer Leverkusen with the signing set to be announced before Monday’s deadline.