Oleksandr Zinchenko and William Saliba not to play till end of this season

According to rumors, William Saliba has failed in his attempt to get back in shape before the end of the season, while Oleksandr Zinchenko won’t be available for Arsenal in the closing weeks.

Since Saliba’s back injury against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League in the middle of March, the title-chasing Gunners have had to make due without the Frenchman.

Despite missing the last eight Premier League games, Mikel Arteta never ruled out the French defender’s comeback before the end of the current campaign.

Due to this, Arsenal’s defense has struggled, with the side failing to maintain a clean sheet in seven of those games. However, on Sunday, in a 2-0 victory over Newcastle, they managed to register their first shutout in almost two months.

However, the Gunners have given up 14 goals in their last eight games, giving Manchester City the chance to take the lead at the top of the league with a game still to play.

Saliba’s comeback for the next three games of the season has now been definitively eliminated, according to The Athletic, which reports that the club has conceded defeat in the battle to get the Frenchman healthy again.

Saliba won’t need surgery and should be back and healthy for preseason, despite rumors that the severity of his injury is still somewhat unknown to the club’s medical staff.

Arteta’s defensive woes will be made worse by the absence of Zinchenko, who had to leave the game against Newcastle due to a calf injury.

The Ukrainian has played a key role in Arsenal’s championship defense, but he has struggled with a number of injuries this year and was absent from the 2-2 draw with West Ham last month.

Although the issue is mild and won’t require surgery, like Saliba, it will take at least two weeks for him to recover, so he won’t be able to participate in the run-in.

At St. James’ Park, Kieran Tierney took Zinchenko’s spot, and he’ll probably keep playing left back in the following games against Brighton, Nottingham Forest, and Wolves.

However, if Arteta wishes to replicate the approach of having his left-back go into midfield when in possession of the ball, he has the choice to play Granit Xhaka at left-back.

Rob Holding initially took over Saliba’s position in the center of defense, but Jakub Kiwior has recently made an impression there and is expected to stay in the position with Gabriel Magalhaes for the visit of Brighton on Sunday afternoon.