Why was William Saliba sent off and how many games is he suspended?

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Arsenal suffered another blow in their fight for the Premier League title when William Saliba was sent off in the defeat to Bournemouth for his third red card of the season.

The centre-back was shown a straight red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity when he brought down Bournemouth's Evanlison.

The striker was sent towards goal by Leandro Trossard's erratic back pass and VAR recommended an on-field review to referee Robert Jones after initially being shown a yellow card.

Saliba's red card, the first of his career, is the third Arsenal have received this season, following the controversial sackings of Declan Rice against Brighton and Trossard at Manchester City.

However, unlike those games, Arsenal were unable to keep up with 10 men and Bournemouth inflicted their first defeat of the season with two second-half goals.

Without Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard due to injury, Mikel Arteta is facing another headache ahead of a big week.

Why was Saliba sent off?

Saliba was sent off for denying an “obvious” scoring opportunity when he took off Evanilson’s shirt and threw the Brazilian to the ground.

Denial of a scoring opportunity is judged based on various factors. The referee would have assessed the distance between the attack and the goal, the general direction of play, the likelihood of Evanlison retaining or gaining control of the ball, and the position and number of Arsenal defenders.

Although Evanlison was far from the goal, he ran towards the goal in the middle of the field. Ben White was the only other defender at the back, and he was further to the right, away from the center.

A statement from the Premier League Match Center clarified:

“The referee gave Saliba a yellow card for a foul on Evanilson. The VAR concluded that Saliba denied an obvious scoring opportunity and recommended an on-field review. The referee then upgraded the yellow card to a red card.”

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How many games will Saliba be suspended for?

In the Premier League, denying a goal or an obvious scoring opportunity means a one-match ban, like a second yellow card.

This will not be possible in the Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.

Saliba will therefore be suspended for Arsenal's home game against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday October 27th.

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Was it the right decision?

Former Arsenal striker Theo Walcott said on Sky Sports it was a red card.

“It’s a clear scoring opportunity,” he said. “The decision is probably the right one.”

Jamie Redknapp added: “It ticks all those boxes. When I saw it, I thought, “William Saliba, you’re in trouble here.”

“Trossard makes a big mistake (with the pass). After he plays the ball, there is panic. It’s absolutely a foul.”