William Saliba is arguably Arsenal's most important player. Unarguably, he is amongst a growing list of Mikel Arteta's unavailable stars and will perhaps be the one Gunners fans are most concerned about as Liverpool make a weekend trip to the Emirates.
Fortunately, the Rolls-Royce centre-back isn't injured and will return once he serves a one-game suspension after being sent off against Bournemouth as Arsenal dropped to their first Premier League defeat of the season.
Arsenal's loss is Liverpool's gain however and the temporary breaking of Saliba's formidable defensive partnership with Gabriel is a huge boost for Arne Slot's league leaders.
A Liverpool victory in north London would put the visitors seven points clear of Arsenal as both teams try to stay in a three-horse title race with Man City - and Saliba's absence has been cruelly felt before.
Rewind to the 2022-23 season and the Premier League crown was Arsenal's to lose as Arteta's squad of fledgling talents went toe-to-toe with City in an enthralling battle between England's two best sides.
William Saliba will be a huge miss for Arsenal as they host Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday
Saliba is a crucial part of Arsenal's success in recent years but will miss Sunday's contest
Saliba will serve a one-game suspension after being sent off against Bournemouth on Saturday
The Gunners boasted an eight-point lead over eventual champions City at the start of April as Saliba thrived in his first full Arsenal campaign after initially being sent on several loan spells.
Then disaster struck as the 23-year-old suffered a back injury that ruled him out of for the rest of the season and Arsenal's title hopes slowly but surely crumbled away with City going on to win a third consecutive English crown and finishing five points clear.
Fast forward to present day with Arsenal hoping to finally claw their way to the title and the statistics highlighting the club's Premier League struggles without Saliba makes for glum reading.
The centre-back is a tall and domineering physical specimen who has plagued Erling Haaland and rival strikers ever since being integrated into the first-team by Arteta.
Fine tuned during repeat spells away from the club after initially signing as an unknown youngster for £27m from Saint-Etienne in 2019, Saliba has gone on to become one of Europe's best defenders.
The Bondy-born talent has made 94 appearances for the Gunners since then with 73 of those coming in the league and it's there where his absence has been felt the most before.
Across 73 Premier League fixtures with Saliba involved since the 22/23 season, Arsenal have recorded 54 wins, 10 draws and suffered just nine losses resulting in a win percentage of 74 per cent.
However, in just 11 top-flight matches without him they have won just five games, drawn three times and lost on three occasions as well, resulting in a concerning win percentage of only 45.5 per cent.
Mikel Arteta (right) will have to find a way to manage without Saliba (left) against Liverpool
Saliba and Brazil-born Gabriel (left) have formed one of Europe's best centre back partnerships
The Frenchman has proven effective against the world's best including City's Erling Haaland
Arsenal are weaker in attack when Saliba isn't playing with his ball-carrying capabilities missed
Furthermore, Arsenal's points-per-game ratio also takes a stark nosedive when Saliba isn't available, dropping from 2.4ppg to 1.6ppg when he isn't on the pitch.
The Gunners also concede more goals without Saliba marshalling the defence and Liverpool's attackers will be rubbing their hands knowing Arsenal concede an average of 1.6 goals per game when the Frenchman isn't playing.
Surprisingly, Arsenal manage virtually the same amount of possession regardless of if he is playing but concede over a shot extra on their goal without Saliba in defence - 10.7 shots as opposed to 9.1 per game when he's available.
Arsenal's attackers also get less joy when Saliba is out of the team as the defender's ball-carrying capabilities are culled and their own attempted shots in a match plummets from 16.8 to 13.3.
Clearly Saliba is a player that Arsenal can't cope without in the long-term with his presence - or lack of it - impacting them severely at both ends of the pitch.
The clubdecided against appealing his red card dished out at Bournemouth in fear of having his suspension extended if unsuccessful and now Arteta must find an answer to stop Mohamed Salah and Co on Sunday.
Mohammed Salah will fancy his scoring chances against a weakened Arsenal defence
Saliba was previously a huge miss as Arsenal crashed out the title race two years ago
| With Saliba | Metric | Without Saliba |
|---|---|---|
| 73 | Games | 11 |
| 54 | Wins | 5 |
| 10 | Draws | 3 |
| 9 | Losses | 3 |
| 168 | Goals for | 26 |
| 2.3 | Average goals for | 2.4 |
| 62 | Goals against | 18 |
| 0.8 | Average goals against | 1.6 |
| 74.00% | Win percentage | 45.50% |
| 2.4 | Points per game | 1.6 |
| 16.8 | Shots per game | 13.3 |
| 9.1 | Shots conceded per game | 10.7 |
| 58.30% | Possession | 58.20% |
He must also find a way to unlock Liverpool's supreme backline captained by Virgil van Dijk that has conceded just three times this season - the best record in the Premier League.
Fortunately, Gabriel Martinelli is beginning to hit form exactly when the Gunners need him to and Kai Havertz always seems to save a goal for the big occasion with not many bigger than Sunday's clash.
Meanwhile, Saliba's centre-back partner Gabriel will have to be the leader in Arsenal's defence against the Reds and it would be no surprise to see Jakub Kiwior or Ben White dropped in at centre-back alongside the Brazilian.
Should Arsenal conquer Liverpool then it will be a massive achievement made even bigger without Saliba's participation, but that's a big ask and the Reds will have their tails up knowing an upset is on the cards as they head to the capital.