Arsenal were dealt a potentially massive blow in their Champions League defeat last night, as Bukayo Saka was substituted with a suspected injury in the first half.
The winger made a somewhat surprising start after limping off the pitch in both of his previous two appearances, and there was some expectation that he may have been rested for Arsenal’s upcoming match against Manchester City.
Saka pulled up with a leg injury and was unable to continue, and was replaced by Fabio Vieira as Arsenal let a 1-0 lead slip to lose 2-1.
Mikel Arteta explains Saka substitution
Speaking after the game, manager Mikel Arteta explained why Saka came off, but did not give an indication as to whether the 22-year-old would be fit for the huge game on Sunday.
“He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and he felt something. It’s something muscular,” Arteta stated.
“He wasn’t able to carry on. We don’t know more, but it was big enough for us to remove him”.
Is Arteta being irresponsible over Saka?
Whilst Saka’s injury against Lens might be a different one to the injury which saw him limp off against Spurs and Bournemouth, and also miss the Carabao Cup victory over Brentford, there is a case to be made that Saka should have been rested.
The 22-year-old has now featured in 87 Premier League games in a row for Arsenal, a club record, and given his importance to the team, he is rarely given a break.
Arteta was criticised for not substituting Saka earlier against Bournemouth, before he picked up another knock, and given that he has been on the receiving end of some heavy tackles, an injury felt inevitable if he was to continue playing so much.
Arteta had other options on the bench in Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe and Vieira who were all itching for a start against Lens, but chose to persist with Saka, and may now pay a huge price if his talisman cannot recover in time for the visit of the Champions.
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