Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher in agreement about Bukayo Saka after injury v RC Lens

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Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher agreed that Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is being overworked.

A lot of Arsenal fans will be saying ‘I told you so’. But Mikel Arteta’s call to start the 22-year-old away at RC Lens in the Champions League on Tuesday night has now hit him right in the face.

Bukayo Saka was subbed off just before the break with what looked like a worrying injury, with Henry stating that he is playing ‘too much’ and, at one point, ‘you are going to hit a wall’, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (03/10/23 at 10:00 pm).

Well, the previous worries might now be a reality because when Bukayo Saka hobbled off last night, it didn’t look great.

What makes matters worse is that leading into Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth on Saturday, he hardly trained during the week after picking up a knock in the north London derby.

Yet he started at the weekend, went off in the second half after getting kicked around, but started again last night. And now it’s time to pray and hope for all associated with Arsenal.

Bukayo Saka injury

“Is the bigger problem, Thierry, and it’s something you mentioned,” said Carragher. “Saka has gone off injured.

“You mentioned last week that the only criticism you can have in some ways is that he has played too much football. Is that more of a problem than the result considering who Arsenal are playing at the weekend?”

Henry responded: “You lose, but it also looks like you might have lost Bukayo Saka. People were talking about Rodri not playing at the weekend. People were talking about a lot of stuff. Suddenly, you don’t have, for me, the main man at Arsenal playing against Man City at the weekend.

“It wasn’t so much criticism, it’s the only thing you can say about Bukayo Saka. He has been playing everything. At one point, you are going to hit the wall and it’s going to be a bit too much. It was maybe too physical tonight – obviously, he is going to be missed.”

Arsenal v Man City

It’s only a small matter of Manchester City at the weekend, with both sides possibly missing key players.

If Saka is injured, then it will be a body blow for Arteta, but his former partner in crime, Pep Guardiola, will also point towards his own injured and suspended players.

Kevin de Bruyne, John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Rodri are either injured or suspended for the Emirates trip, so Arsenal fans can’t complain too much.