Bukayo Saka’s hopes of being fit for Arsenal this weekend are looking a little slim.
The Gunners welcome a wounded Liverpool side to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and it remains to be seen what sort of team Mikel Arteta puts out.
Arsenal’s season is now all about the Europa League and with a quarter-final tie against Slavia Prague coming next week, the Spaniard might well rest some of his heavy hitters against the Reds.
But it look probable that Saka might not be available either way.
Arteta told Arsenal’s official website today that the 19-year-old winger – who pulled out of international duty with England due to injury last month – is still training on his own, which looks a pretty ominous sign that he won’t be facing Jurgen Klopp’s side – even if he is ‘feeling better’.
He said: “He hasn’t trained with the team yet. He’s been doing some individual work. We had to pull him out of the England squad, unfortunately. He’s feeling better, but he hasn’t trained with the team yet.”
This might be a blessing in disguise for Arsenal.
As mentioned, the Europa League is now the priority and it’d be a big blow for their chances of winning that competition if Arteta were to start Saka against Liverpool and have him break down again.
As things stand, Saka is going to win the club’s Player of the Year award, illustrating his importance, and Arteta just can’t afford to lose him.
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