Arsenal are appealing the suspension of William Saliba.

William Saliba, 23, was sent off after a last-man foul on Bournemouth’s striker Evanilson while trying to recover a misjudged back pass from Leandro Trossard.

The incident happened around the halfway line, 30 minutes into the game, when Saliba brought down Evanilson. Initially, referee Rob Jones gave Saliba a yellow card, but after a VAR review by Jared Gillett, the decision was upgraded to a straight red. It was ruled that Saliba had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity, with no other defender in a position to cover.

Following the red card, Arsenal went on to lose 2-0, sparking debate, including criticism from former referee Mark Halsey. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hinted that the club was considering an appeal, but they’ve now decided not to pursue the matter. This means Saliba will serve a one-match ban, ruling him out of Arsenal’s important clash against Liverpool next Sunday. Fortunately, as the red card wasn’t for violent conduct, he avoided a three-game ban.

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This incident marks the third time this season that an Arsenal player has been sent off—Declan Rice was dismissed against Brighton, and Leandro Trossard saw red against Manchester City. Arsenal has now accumulated 18 red cards since Arteta took over in December 2019, which is six more than any other Premier League team during that period. One more red card this season will see them tie with Everton for the Premier League record at 108.

Historically, teams with more than three red cards in a season haven’t fared well in the title race. In fact, since the 2012/13 season, only Chelsea (in 2014/15) and Leicester (in 2015/16) managed to win the league while picking up three or more red cards.

Saliba is expected to return for Arsenal’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk.

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