Arsenal consider William Saliba red card appeal – but out of Mikel Arteta’s hands

Arsenal are considering appealing William Saliba’s red card, which would see him suspended for this weekend’s match against Liverpool, though Mikel Arteta says the decision is out of his hands.

Liverpool’s 2-1 win against Chelsea compounded Arsenal‘s defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, with the Reds now four points clear of the Gunners after eight games played.

What made the defeat even worse for Arteta’s side is the fact they picked up their third red card of the season, as key centre-back Saliba was sent off.

The Frenchman initially saw yellow for his challenge on Evanilson. However, this was subsequently upgraded to red after a VAR review that deemed the Bournemouth man was denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

The sending-off means he is set to miss the match against Liverpool due to the one-match suspension he has to serve.

Arteta, though, revealed that Arsenal are considering appealing the red card.

“I leave that more to the club to understand the circumstances,” he said on Monday.

“They will have to decide it. It is about perspective. We want to win in any context but the reality is we made it very difficult for ourselves.

“Another context is that we have lost one Game in six months. Playing with 10 men there is obviously an issue. When you analyse the three different actions and the outcomes it’s very different. We cannot continue to play with 10 men.”

If Arsenal do decide to press ahead with an appeal you would have to assume it would be unsuccessful as the Premier League‘s match centre said on Saturday.

“The referee gave Saliba a yellow card for a challenge on Evanilson,” the statement read.

#BOUARS – 27’ VAR OVERTURN

The referee gave Saliba a yellow card for a challenge on Evanilson. The VAR deemed that Saliba denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card.

— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) October 19, 2024

“The VAR deemed that Saliba denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow to a red card.”

If Saliba is indeed suspended as we expect, Jurrien Timber would likely take his place despite playing as a full-back.

However, there is potential for him to miss the Game too as he was absent for the last two Games as well as the Netherlands’ matches, due to a muscle issue.