Saliba out for Arsenal’s Forest trip as Zubimendi remains doubtful

William Saliba will miss Arsenal’s trip to Nottingham Forest with a back injury, leaving Mikel Arteta to prepare for Sunday’s match with five players unavailable and Martin Zubimendi’s status uncertain.

Ben White, Christos Tzolis, Jurriën Timber and Piero Hincapié are also out. Zubimendi is a doubt after taking a knock, so Arteta has another key selection question to settle before Arsenal travel to the City Ground.

The manager offered an encouraging, but not definitive, update after Arsenal’s Champions League win over Lille. He said Zubimendi was “much, much better” but still needed to see how he handled the pain on the pitch. That leaves his availability unresolved ahead of the Forest game.

Hincapié is improving, according to Arteta, though the manager said the injury looked more significant and could keep the defender out for weeks. That longer-term concern adds to the immediate absences for Sunday, while Saliba’s back injury rules him out of this trip.

Saliba’s absence from Arsenal’s 2026/27 squad photo had drawn attention. The club said he missed the shoot because of a medical appointment; his absence from the Forest squad is due to injury.

Arsenal head to Forest second in the Premier League, with 15 points from six games. Arteta’s task is to settle his team without Saliba and four other unavailable players, while waiting to see whether Zubimendi can manage the knock. The midfielder’s condition will be central to the final decisions before Sunday’s match.