Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba will not be available for Wednesday's top-of-the-table showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The France international has been forced to sit out the Gunners' last five games with a back injury sustained against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last month.
With Saliba absent, Arsenal have taken maximum points from just two of their last five Premier League games, failing to keep a clean sheet each time and conceding seven goals in their last three games.
The Gunners' plateau has allowed Man City to cut the gap at the top down to five points having played two fewer matches, but the destiny of the Premier League title will remain in Arsenal's hands should they come away from the Etihad with a victory.
However, the league leaders will be forced to navigate their showdown with the champions without Saliba, who Arteta confirmed is yet to make any real progress in his recovery.
Speaking to the media at his pre-game press conference, Arteta said: "There's not been real improvement on him unfortunately, so we're still waiting. We're still hopeful, but it's another week that's gone by and he's not been able to train with the team."
When asked about reports claiming that Saliba could miss the rest of the season with structural damage, Arteta said with a wry smile: "I'll leave that to the doctors to explain. At the moment we don't have him and the next game is probably going to come too close as well. We have to go week by week with him at the moment."
With Takehiro Tomiyasu also recovering from season-ending knee surgery alongside Mohamed Elneny, Rob Holding is set to make his sixth successive Premier League start alongside Gabriel Magalhaes in the backline.
Arteta was also quizzed on the condition of Granit Xhaka, who missed last week's clash with Southampton through illness as Arsenal came from two goals down to rescue a point in a 3-3 draw.
Xhaka is not believed to have picked up a severe bug, but Arteta was still coy over his involvement, adding: "Granit has been out, hopefully he will be able to train today but he is still a doubt. The rest are OK."
Following a 3-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola's side at the Emirates back in February, Arsenal have now lost each of their last 11 Premier League games against Man City and have not avoided defeat at the Etihad since a 2-0 win in January 2015.
Another loss on Man City's turf is widely expected to end the Gunners' title charge, but Arteta does not believe that the result of Wednesday's game will define his side's season.
"No, if we win tomorrow we have not won the league. It will shift probably the percentage, but five games in this league is very tricky still," said Arteta, who has got one over Guardiola in the 2019-20 FA Cup semi-finals.
"We knew from the beginning City and Liverpool were the teams to beat, what they have done for the last 6-7 years they deserve credit. We wanted to close the gap, now we are toe to toe.
"We knew we had to go to Etihad, it will be difficult, but will it decide the season? No. The belief is there, I look at how the players reacted after Southampton, they defend each other, they really want it, but they have to be perfect because that is what is demanded at this time in the season."
Arsenal also missed the chance to wrap up Champions League qualification against Southampton, but no matter what transpires at the Etihad, they will be guaranteed a top-four finish on Wednesday if Brighton & Hove Albion fail to beat Nottingham Forest. body check tags ::
