Bukayo Saka injury: How do Arsenal cope without one of their star men in the Premier League title race?

Bukayo Saka has ruled out for “many weeks”. After the Arsenal winger picked up a hamstring injury; the England international is a key cog down the right hand side for Mikel Arteta. So who could replace him on that wing? The January transfer window opens on New Year’s Day

If Arsenal had to pick a player to play the whole season injury free, then Bukayo Saka would be first or second on that list.

Mikel Arteta was previously fortunate that one of his key players has been away from the sidelines for so many years.

Over the past three seasons, Saka has missed just 10 out of Arsenal’s 172 matches in all competitions – and since making his Premier League debut six seasons ago, he has never been out for more than one top-flight game at a time due to injury.

Arsenal are rarely without Saka but now ทางเข้า ufabet https://ufabet999.app they are on foreign ground given he is now sidelined for “many weeks” due to a hamstring injury sustained at Crystal Palace.

It is a huge blow because of Arsenal’s dependency on the England winger. Firstly, his end product is unrivalled at Arsenal and only a handful of Premier League players have a better influence over their team in terms of goals and assists.

But crucially, Saka is a key cog in Arsenal’s game plan.

Out of all Arsenal’s front three players in the last four seasons, Saka has more minutes than the next two most ever-present forwards combined

Not only is he one of Arsenal’s key corner takers alongside Declan Rice – with the Gunners the outright dead ball experts across Europe – but the manner in which Arteta’s side come forward regularly involves Saka.

Nearly 50 per cent of Arsenal’s attacks going forward go through Saka territory – and that number has been increasing every year. This season’s 46 per cent leniency towards the right wing is the highest dependency out of any Premier League team.