Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Saturday without playing the injured William Saliba and Alan Shearer feels the strength of the Gunners’ squad means they can expect little sympathy
Alan Shearer insists Arsenal will not get much sympathy over injuries this season given the money they have spent to finetune their impressive squad ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
The Gunners recorded a dominant 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s early game to leapfrog Liverpool at the Premier League summit, albeit the champions have played a game less and could return there as soon as Sunday when they face Burnley. The day was soured, though, by the fact that William Saliba was not deemed fit enough to feature.
Saliba, 24, suffered an injury in the warm-up prior to Arsenal’s 1-0 loss away at Liverpool before the international break and was then withdrawn just minutes into the game. He was not included in the France squad for the most recent round of international fixtures, though he did train on the eve of Arsenal’s latest Premier League game.
Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports that Saliba “wasn’t fully ready to start the game” but did not shed any light on when the influential Frenchman may return. Cristhian Mosquera, a summer signing for Valencia, deputised for Saliba after arriving in a £13million deal and impressed as Arsenal recorded a third clean sheet in four Premier League games.
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While Arsenal didn’t seem to miss Saliba on Satuday, Shearer reckons the north London outfit – who spent over £250m this summer – will get no sympathy from anybody over injuries this season given the strength of their squad.
He told Betfair: “Saliba has been a big player for them for a while and they’ll be a lesser team for it unfortunately, but you won’t get too much sympathy because of who and what they are, the money that they’ve spent and the squad that they’ve got there.
“That happens to all the big boys when you spend a fortune. You’re not going to get too much sympathy from rival clubs. There’s no doubt Saliba will be a big miss for Arsenal because he’s such a good player.”
Mosquera impressed at the heart of Arsenal’s defence on an afternoon where two of Arsenal’s big summer recruits – Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres – stole the show by scoring three goals between them. Arteta singled out his new boys post-match, saying: “It’s a very good afternoon because after the players have been travelling the world for the last 10 days with different national teams, different coaches with different habits.
“It’s always a bit uncertain how we’re going to play, how we’re going to connect, the timings of everything, especially when we have only one day to prepare the game. But overall, I think we were very dominant throughout the game, created some big chances, scored three goals, and had another clean sheet, which is always very good.
“Another positive thing was the new relationships that we are building and the way they are connecting, which I was very pleased to see today.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
