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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he’s hopeful Bukayo Saka will make a speedy recovery after the youngster was forced off in the dying moments of the side’s goalless Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool.
Saka’s injury put a slight dampener on an otherwise impressive night from the Gunners’ perspective, with Mikel Arteta’s men battling hard to hold Liverpool to a stalemate despite Granit Xhaka’s early sending off at Anfield.
Arsenal’s absentees have been stacking up in recent days due to a combination of injury, Covid-19 and players being away on international duty at AFCON and Xhaka’s red card means he will now miss the return leg.
The Switzerland midfielder will also be suspended for Arsenal’s upcoming Premier League matches against Tottenham and Burnley.
With the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all currently unavailable, the north Londoners will no doubt be sweating over the severity of Saka’s problem.
At his post-match press conference, Arteta was unable to confirm whether Saka would be fit for Sunday’s north London derby but remains positive the Englishman’s issue isn’t serious.
‘He felt something in the last minute, he was really fatigued,’ Arteta told reporters at his post-match press conference.
‘He’s a young boy and he recovers really quickly. Hopefully he’s alright.’
On Arsenal missing so many players for this weekend’s derby, the Spaniard added: ‘We came here and we were missing nine or ten players already.
‘We don’t know what to expect the next day, so we cannot use that as an excuse.’
Arteta said he was ‘really proud’ of the ‘fight, spirit and commitment’ his players showed…
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Source : metro
