William Saliba statistic a concern for Arsenal ahead of Liverpool showdown in major test of squad progress

Mikel Arteta has named five different back-fours in the Premier League this season and on Sunday that number will rise to six.

Arsenal have been hit by an injury crisis in defence and William Saliba’s suspension has only added to their woes.

The defender was sent off at Bournemouth last week and, for the first time since March last year, Arsenal are set to start a Premier League match without him when they host Liverpool this weekend.

Saliba played every minute in the Premier League last season and his absence is a huge blow. Since he made his debut, Arsenal have won 74 per cent of their Premier League games and conceded on average 0.8 goals per game

When the Frenchman has been out, the Gunners’ win rate drops to 45 per cent and they have conceded 1.6 goals per game.

“We have different options,” said Arteta, when asked about replacing Saliba. “Players that have played there before.

“It’s true that partnership [with Gabriel] has been very stable and he has played every single moment. But he’s not available. We have to find a different solution which as a team we need to be good at as well.”

The frustration for Arteta is that his options to replace Saliba are limited given that Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all out injured. Timber has a chance of being fit, but Arteta admitted on Friday that was by no means a guarantee.

It leaves Arsenal in a difficult spot. Thomas Partey could be forced to play at right-back, Ben White may move back to the heart of defence and Arteta has refused to rule out starting 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly at left-back.

Whatever Arteta does, Sunday will be a true test of Arsenal’s squad depth as the Spaniard names his six different back-four in nine league games. One of the key aims of the club this summer was to raise the floor of the squad and bleak periods like this, when they are ravaged by injury, will let them know how much more work is required.

Arteta can, at least, take heart from the fact that Arsenal have more depth in defence than anywhere else in the squad. In years gone by, the idea of having players of the calibre of Calafiori, Saliba, Timber and Tomiyasu out would have left the Gunners down to the bare bones.

Now, however, they do have the ability to put out a defence that can attempt to keep Liverpool at bay.

Arteta is not shocked by Liverpool’s fast start under Arne Slot, which has seen them climb to the top of the table, and he knows his side have a tall order ahead of them.

“For me, they are one of the best teams in the last decade and certainly the history of this Premier League, because they competed against a team that was creating record after record and they were consistently there,” he said.

“That shows a lot of relentless and winning mentality to consistently believe, even if it some people you feel you could not reach it. So that’s a big credit to them and with the work they have done with a clear identity, so that’s something remarkable in my opinion.

“It’s a team that has been competing for nine years at the highest level. They know how to compete, how to threaten you when the ball is really far, when the ball is in the outside units especially.

“They have the quality to damage you. For nine years consistently it’s been there. That means they’re really good at what they do.”