Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka sustained an injury in midweek but the England international is in contention to play against Manchester City on Sunday.
Saka picked up a hamstring issue while backheeling the ball during Arsenal’s UCL game against Lens and immediately, there were question marks over his availability for Sunday’s home game against the league leaders.
Mikel Arteta claimed after the loss that the extent of the injury was not known but on Friday, the Arsenal manager gave a positive update.
The manager told the press that Saka’s injury was not serious and he could be available for selection when MCFC come to town.
Arteta said in the pre-match press conference: “He is in contention, we’ll see how he progresses from here to Sunday. Obviously he had to leave the pitch [against RC Lens], that’s never good news, but let’s see how he recovers.”
The fact that Bukayo Saka is not seriously injured is a major boost for the Gunners but we doubt if Arteta will hand him a start at the weekend.
Man City are the current league leaders, losing just a single game and they have a fully fit defence. Gvardiol and Nathan Ake are fighting it out to play on the left side of defence and there’s no way Arteta will use a less than 100% fit Bukayo Saka against this strong defence.
Arsenal have Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard and we think both of them will start as the two wide attackers with Eddie Nketiah leading the line.
Jesus is comfortable playing on the right wing so he will play in that side which means Trossard is going to be on the left. Bukayo Saka should be fit enough to be in the matchday squad and if needed, he might get around 10-15 mins towards the end of the match.
Bukayo Saka made his senior debut for Arsenal in 2018 and since then, he’s playing continuously for both club and country. He’s made 87 uninterrupted appearances in the Premier League and if he starts on Sunday then that record will go up to 88. The youngster has been really lucky to avoid any major injuries but Mikel Arteta will have to be careful in how he manages Saka’s game time.
The 22-year-old is one of the future stars for England and Arsenal but it’s safe to say that Bukayo Saka is just one stress injury away from being sidelined for a lengthy time.
