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Arsenal Hopeful of Major Fitness Boost Ahead of Slavia Prague Clash
REUTERS/Chris Radburn

Nov 3, 2026, 12:15 PM GMT

Jamie is a Welsh football journalist based in Valencia, Spain. 

He studied journalism at the University of South Wales and published a football book, named Bluebird Heaven, around the same time with Pitch Publishing.

Since then, Jamie has continued to specialise in football journalism, PR and football-related Spanish translation. He has worked with a number of media companies, including Reach PCL, Iconic Group and many more over a decade-long career.

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Arsenal could be handed a major boost on Wednesday night when they face Slavia Prague in the Champions League, with William Saliba potentially in contention. The Gunners head to Czechia on Wednesday night as they look to take another step towards automatic qualification for the Round of 16,

The Gunners turn their attention to Europe after a superb win over the weekend, defeating Liverpool and once again showing that they have one of the best defences in world football, and that's even without some of their first-choice stars.

Saliba, who forms one of the world's best centre-back partnerships with Gabriel Magalhaes, has been out since the summer following lower back surgery. The Frenchman dealt with the back injury for much of last season and played through discomfort during the World Cup before finally undergoing the necessary surgery to correct the issue.

Until now, his return date has been very unclear, with much of his recovery being down to how his back takes the increase in load, with the Arsenal medical team slowly increasing demands to make sure there are no major setbacks.

But according to HandofArsenal, there is a chance that Saliba could return or at leas be part of the travelling squad for Wednesday night's clash with Slavia.

A Horizontal Bar Chart Depicting Premier League Clean Sheets 202627 Including Arsenal, Brighton, Everton, Liverpool,

We will find out more when Mikel Arteta takes his pre-match press conference on Tuesday evening, and it will be interesting to see whether Saliba participates in the open training session today.

Arsenal face Hull City on the weekend, so there is also potential for Saliba to return for that one, but the question is whether the Gunners want to risk the centre-back before the international break, which begins on Monday.

In the break, Arsenal have a built in additional two weeks that they could use to rest Saliba and get him back to full strength before handing him his first minutes in around four months.

Arsenal defender William Saliba reacts during Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain
REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Then again, if the defender is deemed ready to play, then it could be useful to get him some minutes and hen give him the break to recover from the new load placed upon his recently recovered back.

It will be all eyes on the open training session and the press conference to see if Saliba is present and available, and if he is not, to see whether we get an update on whether the defender could be fit to play this weekend.

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