During Mikel Arteta‘s time in charge of Arsenal, supporters and reporters have learned to take his statements about the availability of his players with a pinch of salt.
Arteta doesn’t tend to give much away regarding injuries, preferring to leave upcoming opponents guessing over his potential line-up rather than making life easier, as is his prerogative. He would probably struggle in the NFL where head coaches are obligated to identify injuries and expected to be totally transparent regarding player availability.
Given Arteta’s reputation for being opaque over such matters, it was unsurprising that he provided an ambiguous update on Bukayo Saka’s fitness before and after Arsenal’s unconvincing 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donestk on Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old was not named in Arsenal’s matchday squad for the second game running and while his teammates fared better against the Ukrainian champions than they did at Bournemouth last weekend, where they lost 2-0, he was still clearly missed.
Saka picked up a hamstring injury while playing for England against Greece earlier this month and his absence in midweek prompted fears among Arsenal’s fanbase that he could miss Sunday’s crucial clash with Liverpool.
Here’s what we know about Saka’s injury:
What Arteta has said
“He wasn’t able to do the session in the way that we wanted. He wasn’t still feeling good so it wasn’t good news,” Arteta told Amazon Prime on Tuesday before Arsenal’s Champions League fixture.
He was similarly pessimistic afterwards, saying in his press conference: “I don’t know [if Saka will be fit to face Liverpool]. He hasn’t been able to train yet so that’s unlikely.”
Since then, there have been social media whispers that Saka is in fact in contention to feature, albeit not from reputable sources.
Arteta will be asked about Saka’s availability again during his next press conference on Friday afternoon but as already covered it seems unlikely that he will provide a conclusive update.
Saka’s form this season
If Saka does not recover in time to face the Premier League’s league leaders it would be a huge blow for the Gunners.
Saka has started the campaign in fine form with nine direct goal involvements (two goals, seven assists) in his first seven Premier League appearances. He also scored during their 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
As those domestic stats indicate, Saka has been more of a creator than a goalscorer so far, perhaps taking on more responsibility in that regard in part due to Martin Odegaard’s own injury-enforced absence in recent weeks.
Despite missing Arsenal’s last league game, Saka still tops the division’s chance creation charts with 27. He is producing high-quality opportunities too with 13 (48 per cent) of those chances judged to be ones that a teammate should reasonably be expected to score.
Kai Havertz is the player who has benefited most from Saka’s service, by scoring three times. Chelsea’s Noni Madueke is the only player to have been assisted more times by a teammate, netting four goals from Cole Palmer’s assists.
Saka is only two assists away from matching his total from the whole of last season and is only four off equalling his best-ever tally across a single campaign set in 2022-23.
Arteta has used Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus on the right wing in the last two games, but the former is still lacking sharpness after joining from Chelsea and the latter is enduring a crisis in confidence having not scored in his last 23 games dating back to January.
Five potential FPL replacements
Saka’s consistent output makes him a standout FPL option and despite being the second-most sold player in the game this week he is still owned by almost a third of managers.
FPL bosses who have held onto Saka have a decision to make over whether to keep him or sell ahead of Friday’s Gameweek 9 deadline. It’s a tricky call to make given the limited information we have about his hamstring issue.
However, Arsenal’s difficult short-term fixtures and the strong form of other midfielders in the game make the case for moving him on stronger.
Cole Palmer (£10.9m) is the leading candidate to replace Saka. Chelsea’s main man is second in the overall points standings, level with Erling Haaland, having accumulated 69 points.
He has combined six goals with five assists in only eight matches and has produced the best score of the season with 25 points against Brighton in Gameweek 6. The Blues host out-of-form Newcastle at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
If you can’t quite stretch to Palmer, Son Heung-min (£9.2m) is a compelling alternative, as long as he is passed fit for Tottenham’s clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The South Korean looked sharp against West Ham last weekend and was unfortunate to only take eight points from that contest after hitting the post and having an assist controversially wiped out in FPL after it had originally been given.
Phil Foden (£9.2m) is another premium pick worth considering.
Although the Premier League’s reigning Player of the Year has endured a slow start to this season, he registered his first attacking return against Wolves in Gameweek 9 and followed that up with a goal and an excellent performance in Manchester City’s midweek thrashing of Sparta Prague. City have a plum fixture this weekend at home against Southampton.
FPL managers don’t necessarily need to replace Saka for a similarly pricy asset. Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo (£7.5m) is probably the next best option after Palmer having enjoyed a storming start to the campaign.
The Cameroonian has scored six goals, is the club’s designated penalty taker after Ivan Toney’s departure and has netted in all four of his home matches. The Bees have a promising schedule with Ipswich (h), Fulham (a), Bournemouth (h), Everton (a) and Leicester (h) coming up in the next five gameweeks.
Everton’s Dwight McNeil (£5.8m) is an even cheaper option. The winger has been a bright spark for the Toffees, providing three goals and three assists apiece in eight outings. Like Brentford, Everton also have a decent run coming up with games against Fulham (h), Southampton (a), West Ham (a) and Brentford (h) in their next four.
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