Bukayo Saka appeared to be substituted hurt during Arsenal’s 1-0 victory in the North London derby, perhaps exacerbating the team’s injury woes.
Saka dropped to the ground and shook his head, appearing to be injured. In the last ten minutes of the game, Ethan Nwaneri came in to replace Saka.
Bukayo Saka appeared to pick up an injury during the North London derby
The star was taken off after going down in the middle of the pitch
Youngster Ethan Nwaneri replaced Saka
Due to injuries, Arsenal is currently without Oleksandr Zinchenko, Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Mikel Merino.
With a Champions League away trip to Atalanta and a Premier League visit to Man City coming up, Arsenal supporters are starting to fear the worst.
One admirer posted on social media, saying: “I don’t like how much Saka is shaking his head.Don’t be so serious, please.”
One person said, “I hope Saka off is just a precaution and nothing serious…” while another continued.
“The Saka injury is the last thing we needed!” yelled a third person.
“I can’t lie that Saka injury is concerning,” wrote a fourth user.
Mikel Arteta will be praying that his star winger is well enough to play in the two difficult games that are coming up.
Without the England international, Arsenal saw out the last ten minutes of the Spurs match and prevailed 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
At full time, the 23-year-old appeared to be in high spirits, grinning and strolling across the pitch, giving worried Gooners some optimism.
Saka’s fitness was further questioned by Mikel Arteta’s lacklustre post-match press conference, where he provided no particularly encouraging update on the injury.
He said: “I don’t know [what happened]. I made two changes with the front players and suddenly he’s down. I don’t know exactly what it is but he could not continue.”
Captain Martin Odegaard has already been sidelined for a nasty ankle injury while on international duty with Norway.
While Mikel Merino was the victim of a heavy fall during his first training session with the Gunners, causing the Spaniard to suffer a fractured shoulder.
Fellow summer signing Riccardo Calafiori picked up a knock while away with Italy and was nowhere to be seen in today’s matchday squad.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was another omission from the team with reports that he too has picked up an injury, while Takehiro Tomiyasu remains out with a knee problem.
Arsenal, incredibly, still managed to come through as 1-0 victors in spite of all their absences .
Gabriel Magalhaes nodded home a second-half header to win the game and earn his side the North London bragging rights.
5Gabriel Magalhaes fired home the winner for Arsenal against SpursCredit: Getty
5Arsenal have a tricky run of fixtures on the horizon