Mikel Arteta considering surprise Arsenal position change after William Saliba injury

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Evening Standard

·22 January 2025

Mikel Arteta considering surprise Arsenal position change after William Saliba injury

Gunners down to bare bones of defensive options after setbacks

Saliba missed Saturday’s draw with Aston Villa due to a hamstring injury picked up in the north London derby last Wednesday.

The Frenchman will miss Arsenal’s Champions League game with Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday, but is recovering well and should be back for the Gunners’ big game against Manchester City a week on Sunday.

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Before then, though, Arsenal have a trip to Wolves and another Champions League clash with Girona.

And, given the club are short on centre-back options because Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are out with knee injuries, Rice could be used there.

“It has been in my head,” said Arteta. “The reality is that he had to play, because of certain circumstances as a No6, a No8, he played one game as a No10.

“To put him in a different position is not ideal. He is coping with it really well, but we know that he has the ability to do that, offering something different to the other central defenders. The reality is we don’t have right-footers in that position.”

Solution? Declan Rice could play at centre-back for Arsenal

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Rice came through West Ham’s academy as a centre-back and he played there for Arsenal last season during a dead rubber with PSV Eindhoven in the final group game of their Champions League campaign.

Arteta’s solution at centre-back last weekend was to move Jurrien Timber from right-back to the heart of defence. Thomas Partey was then tasked with filling in at full-back.

Arsenal’s defence looked uncharacteristically shaky and they blew a two-goal lead at home to Aston Villa.

But Arteta insists they will bounce back from that and they are ready for the challenge of facing Dinamo.

“They were really at it the next day - it’s our job,” said Arteta. “I don’t want them to feel unlucky with results - we have to control what we can control.

“Is there anything better that we could have done in the game to win by a big margin? Yes and we focus on that. I think we were very unlucky.

“Did the result reflect the performance? No it didn’t - it’s clear and obvious watching it twice. it is what it is and now it’s in our hands to change it and that’s it and move forward.”