William Saliba has been an unused substitute for both of France's matches at the 2022 World Cup, but there's an amazing theory that the Arsenal defender will start against Tunisia.
The reigning world champions have already booked their place in the knockout stage, in fact, they became the first nation at this year's tournament to do so at the weekend thanks to a Kylian Mbappe-inspired 2-1 win over Denmark and will be out to seal top spot on Wednesday afternoon.
Avoiding defeat against Tunisia will do just that, although, with a +4 goal difference, Les Bleus are in a dream position where they can effectively afford to lose and still win Group D as long as Australia don't beat Denmark, if they emerge victorious in the other game, by a large margin.
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With that said, whilst France manager Didier Deschamps is refusing to take Tunisia lightly, he has also confirmed that he is planning to make changes to the side that started at the weekend with a question mark over whether Mbappe - chasing the World Cup golden boot - will be rested.
"The team who will play tomorrow will do everything to get the best possible result, even if I have this possibility to shuffle things around," the Les Bleus manager told a news conference yesterday, as per Reuters. "We probably don't even need a point, even if I remain vigilant.
"Physically he is very well but you guys are saying I could have him play to preserve his [Mbappe] ego. Does he want to play? You guys don't know but I know. He doesn't have [that kind of] ego. He's part of a collective project and of course he has this capacity to be in the limelight because he's decisive but he's not 18 anymore. Generally speaking, all the players want to play but they cannot all start."
In addition, it remains to be seen if Saliba is one of the changes that Deschamps has in mind. Judging by France's first two team selections, it would appear that the Arsenal defender is behind Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate in the central defensive pecking order.
So in an attempt to avoid making too many disruptions to the backline, it could be that the Les Bleus boss opts to hand Konate a recall in place of Varane who came into the tournament carrying an injury suffered whilst in action for Manchester United against Chelsea.
As a result, Matteo Guendouzi has stepped in to provide some assistance for his former Marseille teammate. Well, that is a theory of one Arsenal supporter on Reddit who spotted the midfielder putting the Liverpool defender in a headlock during a training session to make 'sure Saliba starts next game'.
Of course, in reality, Guendouzi's actions will have no bearing on Deschamps' decision but it's no secret that the former Arsenal midfielder just wants Saliba to succeed after revealing his wish for the defender to remain at Marseille with him following a successful loan spell last season
"I hope William stays here. He's having a great season; he deserves everything that has happened to him. He's a great guy outside, he's had a lot of great games," Guendouzi said towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
However, this attempt ultimately failed with Saliba returning and immediately establishing himself at the heart of the Arsenal defence alongside Gabriel Magalhaes. Now it remains to be seen if Guendouzi's next attempt to help the 21-year-old will prove successful or not.
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