Arsenal: Mikel Arteta 'very worried' as William Saliba set for tests on hamstring injury | OneFootball

Gunners struggled in defence against Aston Villa in Saliba’s absence

Arsenal defender William Saliba will undergo tests on Sunday to learn the extent of his hamstring injury.

Mikel Arteta has admitted he is “worried” about the situation as Arsenal are already short on defensive options.

Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are both out with knee injuries, while Riccardo Calafiori is absent, too.

Arsenal will learn more about Saliba’s hamstring injury on Sunday when he will undergo further assessment on it.

Asked if he knew the extent of Saliba’s injury, Arteta said: “No, not yet.

“I think tomorrow we will have more information, we will have another test on him and we will be more clear about that.”

On whether he was worried about the situation, Arteta replied: “Yeah, for sure, especially with the numbers that we have in the squad and looking at our bench - very worried.”

Arsenal struggled without Saliba against Aston Villa, blowing a two-goal lead to lose ground on Liverpool in the title race.

Arne Slot’s side are now six points clear of Arsenal after winning at Brentford earlier on Saturday - and they have a game in hand, too.

The Gunners had looked on course to claim a win over Villa, but poor defending meant they surrendered their lead and have now dropped 12 points from winning positions this season.

“I think every situation is very different,” said Arteta. “As well, we have comeback from situations more than probably before as well.

“Today, I think you have to give credit to the opposition. [Lucas] Digne puts in an unbelievable ball, [Youri] Tielemans arrives there.

“The second one, it’s nowhere near the standards that are required and overall, again, what the game showed and how we perform, the scoreline reflection is nowhere near what it should be.”