An innocuous swing of his left boot, a "sharp pain" in his quadriceps, and now an anxious wait for Arsenal. Bukayo Saka's injury was a blot on a positive night against Bayern Munich.
Mikel Arteta offered a gloomy initial prognosis after his 10th-minute withdrawal, revealing his medical staff were "concerned" and adding that it "doesn't look good at all" in his press conference. The injury is the latest in a string of setbacks for Saka, who was almost always available between 2020/21 and 2023/24 but has struggled with hamstring, Achilles and hip issues since. Saka was pictured limping as he left the Allianz Arena, and Arteta's attack is already depleted by the absence of summer signing Christos Tzolis, who was said to be "weeks" away from returning from a thigh issue.
Saka's importance is clear from Arsenal's record. Since his emergence as a regular starter in 2020/21, Arsenal have a 64.2 per cent win rate in Premier League games he has started, compared to 53.3 per cent in games he hasn't. The difference was especially stark last season, when Arsenal won 76 per cent of games with him starting compared to 53.8 per cent without him. He is Arsenal's leading Premier League scorer this season with three goals and ranks top among Arsenal players for shots, touches in the opposition box and expected goals.
With Saka sidelined, Eberechi Eze came on against Bayern Munich, but the goalscoring came from the left, with Noni Madueke switching over to fill Saka's spot. The question now is whether Madueke and young Max Dowman can step up and handle the extra minutes.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing