William Saliba forced off with injury just MINUTES into huge Arsenal vs Liverpool clash

Arsenal suffered a major blow in their crunch Premier League fixture at Liverpool on Sunday when William Saliba was withdrawn with an injury after just FIVE minutes.

The Gunners' influential defender was shown sitting on the turf looking over at the bench shortly after the huge game kicked off at Anfield. And it soon became apparent that the Frenchman would not be continuing. He was promptly replaced by Cristhian Mosquera, one of the club's summer signings, for the remainder of the game.

Dion Dublin, analysing the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, pointed out that Saliba went down immediately after heading the ball and did not appear to be struggling before that.

"I didn't see any limping from William Saliba," the former Aston Villa striker said. "After heading the ball Saliba went down. He kept his left leg straight and his right leg bent.

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"That is a huge loss for Arsenal."

Arsenal have already been plagued by their fair share of injury concerns this season: Kai Havertz is to undergo surgery for a knee issue, while Bukayo Saka also missed out on Sunday's big game at Anfield due to a hamstring issue which will sideline him for around four weeks.

Martin Odegaard sustained a shoulder injury in the same game that Saka hurt himself last weekend. The Norway star was fit enough to travel to Liverpool, though, starting the game on the bench.

Arsenal have spent big this summer on new signings with Mosquera their only defensive signing to date. They are in advanced talks to sign Piero Hincapie, a versatile defender, from Bayer Leverkusen, though.

The Ecuador international is expected to finalise his move to north London before Monday night's transfer deadline to further bolster Mikel Arteta's squad.

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