Mikel Arteta sweating on William Saliba’s Arsenal fitness with Newcastle on the horizon

The French defender has been one of the standout performers for Arsenal this season but hasn’t played since their defeat to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of key man William Saliba ahead of their trip to Newcastle United next month. The Frenchman has been a standout performer for the Gunners in their title charge this season, limping off during the Europa League round of 16 second leg tie against Sporting CP last month.

Saliba is set to miss Arsenal’s top of the table clash with Manchester City in midweek, and remains a doubt for their clash with Chelsea and then Newcastle. The Gunners have had somewhat of a wobble in recent weeks, with their gap at the top slipping to five points, although Pep Guardiola’s side have two games in hand and are set to do battle this week.

Arteta is hopeful of having Granit Xhaka back for the clash with City. He told football.london: “Granit has been out. Hopefully he’ll be able to train today but he’s still a doubt. The rest are OK.”

The Gunners’ captain remains a doubt, but is likely to be back in time to face the Magpies in just under a fortnight’s time. For his teammate Saliba, the clash with Newcastle is the game Arteta is hopeful he’s fit for.

“There’s not been a real improvement unfortunately on him, so we’re still waiting,” Arteta added. “We’re still hopeful, but another week has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.

“At the moment we don’t have him. We are preparing the game without him and probably the next game will come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment.”