Arsenal have forgotten Bukayo Saka injury replacement who is just about to return to the club

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The mood has certainly been lifted in north London following Arsenal’s impressive back-to-back wins over Crystal Palace.

Arsenal are now in a EFL Cup semi-final and have also opened up a six point gap to Manchester City in the Premier League.

Of course, the reality is that Mikel Arteta’s side are now looking up to Liverpool rather than Pep Guardiola’s side, a surprising situation at this stage of the season.

Arsenal have already lost ground to Arne Slot’s team, and they will need to be near-on perfect over the festive period to catch their Merseyside counterparts.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	15	11	3	1	31	13	18	36
2	ChelseaChelsea	16	10	4	2	37	19	18	34
3	ArsenalArsenal	17	9	6	2	34	16	18	33
4	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	17	9	4	4	23	19	4	31

That being said, that task will certainly be a lot harder without Bukayo Saka in the coming weeks, who suffered a significant injury against Palace on Saturday.

Marquinhos ready for Arsenal return after season in Brazil

Arteta gave a Saka injury update, but without further news it doesn’t look good for his involvement in the next month or so at least.

Raheem Sterling is also injured right now, something Arteta confirmed before Arsenal’s second win over Palace in a week.

That means that Arsenal will face Ipswich Town with just two genuine wide options: Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

Therefore, when Marquinhos returns from his loan in Brazil next month, the club could be forced to change their thought process.

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Marquinhos is being sent back to Arsenal following a fairly unsuccessful spell with Fluminense, in which the winger played 29 games, scored two goals and provided two assists.

Now, in a change of plans, it might be helpful for Arsenal to register Marquinhos next month and keep him around as back-up until the end of January at least.

If Sterling isn’t fit, Arsenal will have no senior wide players on the bench against Ipswich, even if Ethan Nwaneri could adapt to playing on the right.

Raheem Sterling’s injury complicates things further for Mikel Arteta

For all the world it looked as if Marquinhos would never feature in an Arsenal squad again.

Marquinhos has plenty of interest to potentially leave the club next month, a player who is thought to have a contract until 2027 with Arsenal.

Now, the 21-year-old could act as cover for the Gunners as of January, a creative solution to a problem that Arteta wouldn’t have anticipated just a week ago.

Marquinhos is unlikely to help decide a Premier League game for Arsenal, but he is a left-footer who can be used on the right to see out a game and rest others.

Depending on Sterling’s fitness, Marquinhos could save Arsenal from any short-term spending next month, and perhaps his departure at the end of January could perfectly marry with Saka’s return.