Ian Wright has expressed his ‘worry’ for Bukayo Saka after the Arsenal forward picked up an injury over the weekend and how he is now being ‘fouled a lot’.
On Sunday, as Arsenal demolished bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest 5-0 to move to the top of the Premier League table, the one concern from the match, was Saka hobbling off in the first half.
With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar around the corner, and Saka a probable starter for England’s opener against Iran, then it’s understandable why players will be a little nervy if they go down with a knock.
Whilst Saka took time to get his engine going this season, in recent weeks, he has seriously started to pick up the pace, scoring four goals and supplying five assists from his last nine league matches.
Mikel Arteta’s side face FC Zurich in a dead-rubber Europa League game on Thursday night, but if their star man on the right is expected to be out of action, then he will miss their crucial all-London affair against Chelsea on Sunday.
Either way, Wright spoke about the 21-year-old’s injury and how he has become ‘so dangerous’ now for the Gunners, as he told Premier League Productions (31/10/22 at 2:25 pm).
“It was sad to see because you look at Arsenal and people are already saying ‘he should be rested, he should have been rested by now’,” said Wright. “It was an awkward fall that he had. It just opened his knee up.
“The sign is always when someone’s coming off and how angry they are or how despondent they are. We saw it with Varane. Saka came off with a little bit more anger. He was disappointed with it. He looked really vexed about it.
“I think if Emile Smith Rowe was fit, then he maybe would have got a bit more of a break or a rest – we just haven’t got the depth and we haven’t put the teams away in the Europa League to be able to rest him.
“He’s so dangerous now. He’s getting fouled a lot. There are a lot of bodies around him. You always worry about him. It is a worry, simply because we are not a million miles away from the World Cup, but most importantly, he’s in good form and that’s what Arsenal need, at the moment.”
REISS NELSON’S TIME TO SHINE
Whilst one door closes, another door opens and that could prove to be the case with Reiss Nelson.
The Hale-End academy star, who was on-loan at Dutch side Feyenoord last season, is still trying to find his feet at the Emirates Stadium, although, he made a good account of himself against Forest.
Nelson replaced Saka when he went off injured and ended the game with a brace and an assist.
This is his time to keep his place in the XI, prove his worth against Chelsea and start to add serious depth to Arsenal’s ever-progressing forward line.
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