Bukayo Saka could be out for as long as eight weeks with the left quadriceps injury he picked up in Munich, and nothing Mikel Arteta said on Friday made that sound far-fetched. Arsenal sent him for another MRI scan that afternoon because so much fluid had gathered around the muscle that the medical staff couldn't see how bad the damage was. His first scan came on Thursday, the day after the game, and it didn't tell the club enough to put a timeline on his return.
Saka went down clutching his leg eight minutes into the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, and Eberechi Eze replaced him straight away. He was later seen limping back to the team bus, and Arteta didn't try to dress any of it up. A player who can't walk off without pain gives you "no good signs", he said, before promising "We will know more tomorrow," which puts the answer some time today. The worry is that this runs to months at the worst end, and the manager sounded pessimistic. Eight weeks is believable for a muscle with so much fluid around it that the damage is hard to read, so the second scan matters more than any number doing the rounds.
Arteta was also asked whether Saka, 25, is heading for burnout. "I don't have that feeling at all," he said, although he admitted Saka had been "different in the last year or so" and pointed at a calendar where the times between games are getting narrower. I read his line about understanding what Saka can sustain when he comes back as a club planning to manage his minutes, and that's the right instinct for a player Arsenal lean on this heavily.
The short-term problem is that Christos Tzolis is already out with a hamstring injury, so Arteta is thin out wide. Eze looks set to stay on the left against Everton at 3pm, which lets Noni Madueke play on the right, where he moved after the reshuffle in Munich. Arteta noted Arsenal have "three games in six days".
Saka's absence is the reason Max Dowman took up so much of Arteta's press conference before Everton. The 16-year-old has had just 10 Premier League minutes this season, and Arteta's answer was that Arsenal "just have to give him the right chances in the right moments". He scored twice in the 4-2 League Cup win at Ipswich Town in September. Arteta also called it unfair to expect a teenager on so few minutes to keep providing. The last time Everton came to the Emirates, in March, Dowman came off the bench to help set up a late opener before scoring in added time to become the Premier League's youngest scorer. Next week's League Cup trip to Fleetwood Town looks the likelier place for him to start.
For Arsenal Women, the north London derby kicks off at 12:45 today at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and a side sitting eighth with one win from six league games badly needs to win it. Renée Slegers pointed out that Arsenal still concede the fewest chances in the league, but she admitted that when opponents do break through "it goes fast". Her verdict was blunt: "It can be and it must be better." Arsenal have almost doubled their crosses into the box this season, and Slegers put that down to chasing a goal in almost every game. That explanation worries me more than the defending, because a team forever chasing leaves the gaps for Tottenham's Shekeira Martinez and Kirsty Hanson to run into on the break.
Leave a Reply