Report reveals chances of William Saliba returning for Arsenal in title showdown at Man City

Arsenal look set to without key centre-back William Saliba for Wednesday night’s trip to Manchester City that could go a long way to deciding the Premier League title.

The defender has been on the sidelines since injuring his back in the Europa League loss to Sporting Lisbon in March but recent scans showed the Frenchman has not made ‘sufficient’ progress to return to action.

The 22-year-old has formed a strong partnership with Gabriel this season but his absence has been felt as the Gunners have had a wobble in their bid for title glory.

There had been some hope that Saliba might recover in time for the Etihad clash, with Saliba pushing towards playing in the hugely important contest.

However, The Athletic reports that the player will definitely miss the game after the latest scan results were not quite what the club had hoped for.

Arsenal are now refusing to put a timescale on when Saliba could return, with fears he could be out for the remainder of the season.

That would be a huge blow to the north London side’s hopes of their first title success since the 2003/04 campaign.

Mikel Arteta’s men have claimed only three points from the last nine available, with three successive draws.

That leaves City just five points behind with two games in hand going into Wednesday night’s clash.

The only hope for the Gunners is that City are distracted by the fact that they face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, while they also have a date with Manchester United in the FA Cup final – although the game a Wembley is not until June 3.

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