Liverpool presents Arsenal with a Champions League dilemma, William Saliba's red card takes a new turn

Arsenal endured a nightmare weekend not only losing to Bournemouth but watching their two main title rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, come away with narrow victories that included elements of fortune. What heightened the issues for the Gunners even more was losing William Saliba for the clash with the Reds later this week because of his sending off on the south coast.

It was a decision which has since been watched over and over by supporters and there will only be further scrutiny on the PGMOL following a similar incident between Chelsea and Liverpool at Anfield this weekend getting a different result. The ill-feeling between the Gunners and the officials grows ever worse.

However, the reality is Saliba will be missing for the game on Sunday, as Arsenal and Mikel Arteta now must prepare to cope without the Frenchman. With that in mind, there is a choice to be made.

Arsenal have a game before the arrival of the Merseysiders and that comes in the form of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. The Gunners will be expected to win and dominate the match and they could opt to go without Saliba in preparation for Liverpool.

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Practicing with a back four which doesn’t include Saliba will arguably allow players to gel partnerships before such a match. That said, there is nothing stopping Arteta from choosing the former Saint-Etienne man for this game and they would be in some ways unnecessarily hamstringing themselves by not choosing him.

Furthermore, practising for Liverpool would in turn provide Arne Slot an insight into what Arteta might be planning. Many might argue that any preparation for a different game should be behind-closed-doors and in training as opposed to in the spotlight.