Arsenal to make William Saliba red card appeal decision based on new Premier League rule

Mikel Arteta has admitted it will be down to the club as to whether Arsenal appeal William Saliba's red card against Bournemouth on Saturday. Saliba picked up Arsenal's third red card of the season for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity when hauling down Evanilson.

When asked about an appeal, Arteta said on Monday: "I leave that more to the club to understand the circumstances and other examples that are very clear in the same position and they will have to decide it."

Much has been made of the red card, particularly the proximity to the goal, with Saliba fouling the Cherries striker just over the halfway line. He would have had to run half the length of the pitch before taking a shot at goal.

Then there was the incident the following day involving Tosin Adarabioyo and Diogo Jota during the Liverpool vs Chelsea clash. It was similar, with the Chelsea defender picking up a yellow card that VAR did not intervene with.

Referees are told to consider four things when deciding if a foul has denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

• Distance between the offence and the goal
• General direction of the play
• Likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
• Location and number of defenders

Rob Jones was the man in the middle for Bournemouth vs Arsenal, with Jarred Gillett in the VAR room. Jones initially brandished a yellow card, before Gillett suggested he take a look at the monitor and potentially upgrade the yellow to red.

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Arsenal may well point to two of the four considerations against it being a clear goalscoring opportunity if they make an appeal. Evanilson was, as mentioned, a long way from goal and would still have had Saliba chasing him if he had not made the foul - with Ben White aiming to cover as well.

Then there is the fact he did not have control of the ball either. It was a long ball forward that he would have to get control of before bearing down on David Raya's goal.

A new rule was implemented by the Premier League this season, affectionately known as 'Referee's Call'. this was brought in to eradicate subjective calls.

The VARs will look at incidents with regard to penalty decisions and fouls, but will not suggest the referee overturns his or her decision if it is a subjective call. So if a VAR does not believe a clear and obvious error has been made, the on-field decision will stand.

Subjective decisions, in which a VAR disagrees with the on-field referee, will not change, unless the disagreement is based on a 'clear and obvious' mistake.

Was the Saliba red card a clear and obvious mistake? Was it a clear goalscoring opportunity? Opinions have been split and based on that, and with two of four things to take into consideration when showing a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity perhaps up for debate, there may well be strong grounds for an appeal from Arsenal.

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