Arsenal face Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium this weekend and by the looks of it, youngsters Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe are both going to be missing from the matchday squad.
Saka did not join the England national side during the break owing to a thigh injury while Emile Smith Rowe picked up a knock while on national duty with the England U21 side, forcing him to miss their last match at the European Championship.
There had been varied news coming out of London about the fitness of the two academy players but Mikel Arteta, in his press conference, has more or less admitted that Bukayo Saka and Smith Rowe are both likely to miss out.
“Bukayo hasn’t trained with the team yet,” Arteta told the press on Thursday. “He’s been doing some individual work.
“We had to pull him out of the England squad, unfortunately. He’s feeling better, but he hasn’t trained with the team yet. Emile has some discomfort in his hip and that’s why they decided to keep him out.
“We will see today how he comes here, we will speak with the doctors and the physios and see if he is available for training tomorrow.”
View this post on Instagram
Emile Smith Rowe’s absence should be a big cause of concern for the Arsenal boss since Martin Odegaard has recovered from his injury and he will be available for selection. So the Norwegian will slot right into attacking midfield on Saturday.
But Saka has been in top form all throughout this season and he has been a constant figure on the right wing for the Gunners.
Now, Mikel Arteta does have the option of using Nicolas Pepe on the right-hand side but the Ivorian is never going to have the same sort of impact as Bukayo Saka.
Emile Smith Rowe might have an outside chance of featuring in the matchday squad but even then, he’s not likely to get more than 10 to 15 minutes on the pitch.
