William Saliba red card: Arteta provides update on Arsenal’s appeal decision

William Saliba was issued a straight red card as Arsenal fell to a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday night. The Frenchman was dim to have deny a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The Frenchman became the third Arsenal player to be sent off this season. Saliba pulled down Cherries striker Evanilson following a loose back pass from Leandro Trossard after 28 minutes.

Though Saliba was initially booked for the challenge, Referee Rob Jones was sent for an on field review and the yellow was overturned to a red.

Saliba is now set to miss Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool and Mikel Arteta has revealed the club’s current decision on appealing the red card.

Match Referee, Robert Jones shows a yellow card to William Saliba of Arsenal (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

According to Arteta, the Gunners are yet to decide whether they will lodge an appeal.

‘I leave that more to the club to understand the circumstances. They will have to decide it,’ the Spaniard said ahead of his side’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

‘It is about perspective. We want to win in any context but the reality is we made it very difficult for ourselves.

‘Another context is that we have lost one game in six months. Playing with 10 men there is obviously an issue. When you analyse the three different actions and the outcomes it’s very different. We cannot continue to play with 10 men.

‘The task becomes almost impossible. We need to eradicate that. I think what happened in those three cases is nothing to do with aggression in my opinion. We want to competitive. It’s great.’

Mikel Arteta will be eager to keep his players in check after their recent set back.

Saliba’s red at the Vitality Stadium means Arsenal have gone down to 10-men three times in their opening eight matches of the season.