Bukayo Saka will definitely miss Arsenal's Premier League clash with Everton on Saturday, and Mikel Arteta has admitted the signs around his thigh injury are "not good" — with initial fears at the Emirates that their star winger could be out for six to eight weeks and miss as many as nine games.
Saka, 25, lasted just 10 minutes of Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich before pulling up while playing a pass, grabbing the top of his left leg and being helped off by medical staff. What Arsenal hoped would be a quick diagnosis has instead turned into a waiting game that could reshape their autumn.
A fresh MRI, and still no answer
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Arteta confirmed the first assessment had been inconclusive because of swelling around the injury. "He's going for an MRI this afternoon because he had a lot of fluid in the area so it was difficult to understand the severity of the injury. We will know tomorrow," Arteta said, in comments reported by Reuters.
"We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists. When a player is struggling to walk off the pitch and he's restricted in his movement, they are not good signs," he added. "Let's be a little bit patient so we can give a definitive assessment and then let you know."
Arteta also used the update to aim a pointed message at the fixture schedulers, noting Arsenal are playing three times in less than six days. "If they can support the amount we are putting into these players, it would be really appreciated," he said. "The games are so demanding, we are chasing until the last minute."
The nine games at risk
The nightmare scenario, as mapped out by football.london after the BBC reported initial fears of a six-to-eight-week absence, is a run that strips Saka out of almost every big night before Christmas. On a six-week timeline he would miss Everton at home, the Carabao Cup trip to Fleetwood Town, the Premier League trip to Liverpool on November 1, Slavia Praha away in the Champions League, Hull City at home, Newcastle United away after the international break, Borussia Dortmund at home and Manchester City at home on November 29, returning only around the Brentford trip on December 2.
Stretch the layoff to eight weeks and the list grows crueller still: the north London derby at Tottenham on December 6 and Real Madrid's visit to the Emirates in the Champions League on December 9 would also fall inside his absence. These are reported fears, not a confirmed timeline — Arsenal expect a definitive assessment once the fresh scans are read — but even the best case now starts with a spell on the sidelines rather than days.
Who steps in on the right?
Arteta is not short of bodies, but he is short of Saka. Noni Madueke is the most natural deputy on the right flank and now gets the run of games he has been waiting for, while Eberechi Eze — in scoring form — can drift in from the left or play centrally. Behind them sits the most intriguing option of all: 16-year-old Max Dowman, the Premier League's youngest-ever scorer, who netted against Everton last season and is pushing for a start at Fleetwood on Tuesday.
There is at least one boost elsewhere in the squad: Piero Hincapie is back in full training and available for Everton, even if Christos Tzolis remains sidelined with the hamstring problem he picked up on Greece duty. Arsenal's depth, so praised in August, is about to be tested in October.
So what does this mean for Arsenal's season?
Arsenal sit level on 19 points at the top end of the Premier League after eight games in the wider title picture, and Saka is the player their attack is built around — the outlet on the right, the penalty-box presence, the man opposition game plans start with. Six weeks without him covers a trip to Anfield and a home date with Manchester City; eight weeks adds a derby and Real Madrid. There is no version of that run where Arsenal are not diminished.
The fixture list also offers no hiding place. Everton arrive at the Emirates having lost just once in their opening seven league matches, and Arteta must solve the right flank immediately — not in a fortnight when the scans have settled. How Madueke, Eze and Dowman share the load in the next three games will tell us whether this is a crisis Arsenal absorb or one that bends their season.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this is the injury Arsenal could least afford, at the worst possible stretch of the calendar. Arteta's "not good signs" language, the need for specialists and the fluid that hid the damage on the first scan all point one way — plan for weeks, not days. If the six-to-eight-week fears are confirmed tomorrow, Arsenal's title challenge will be decided by their deputies, not their star. Can Madueke and Dowman carry the right flank through Anfield, City and a north London derby — or is this where Arsenal's season turns? Have your say in the comments.
