Despite a strong start to their Premier League campaign, Arsenal currently find themselves at the third spot in the standings. Having played eight matches so far, Arsenal have collected 17 points. In their last match against Bournemouth, Arsenal suffered their first loss of this season’s Premier League. Apart from Arsenal’s performance on the field there was one particular event that triggered a huge row and it was the marching orders given to the Gunners defender William Saliba. The French international received Arsenal’s third red card of the season having committed a last-man foul on Evanilson in the first half of the fixture. The decision resulted in a massive uproar with many claiming Mikel Arteta’s side facing the brunt of erroneous referring. Arteta, however, recently admitted that Arsenal do have a discipline problem. The Spaniard even warned it could cost them the Premier League title.
“I mean, playing with ten men, obviously there is an issue. The truth is when you analyse the three very different actions and the outcome of them, the reasons are very different. Regardless of that, we cannot continue to play with ten men, especially at this level,” Mikel Arteta said as per Mirror.
“When you play with 10 men for 65 minutes, the task becomes almost impossible. So, we need to eradicate that. It’s clear why, the reason and how, it doesn’t matter. We have to focus and it has to happen,” Mikel Arteta added.
The article published by Mirror stated that Arsenal have had 18 red cards in the Premier League since Mikel Arteta was appointed in December 2019. As per reports, this tally is five more than any other Premier League team during this period.
William Saliba became the third Arsenal player to be sent off this season after midfielder Declan Rice and forward Leandro Trossard were shown red cards previously in the Premier League. While Rice was given the marching orders during the game against Brighton, Trossard was shown a red card against the reigning champions Manchester City. Both the dismissals turned out to be costly as Arsenal ended up dropping points in those two fixtures. While Arsenal played out a 1-1 draw with Brighton, they conceded a late goal to salvage a point against Manchester City.
William Saliba will miss the next home match against Liverpool in the Premier League scheduled to be played on Sunday, October 27. Liverpool currently find themselves at the top of the Premier League table having collected 21 points from eight matches.
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