Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed he’s yet to make a decision on whether Bukayo Saka will return from injury to face Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday. The Gunners will return to Champions League action reeling from their first defeat of the season at Bournemouth on Saturday, beaten 2-0 to dent their Premier League title challenge.
Saka was missing from the trip to the Vitality Stadium after picking up a hamstring strain on international duty, and his absence proved critical.
And speaking in his pre-match press conference this morning, Arteta refused to put a timeframe on the returns of both the forward and club captain Martin Odegaard.
“They are closer,” he said. “Both are progressing well. Martin not fit. With Bukayo let’s see how he is with the training session later on today.”
Jurrien Timber is another playing on the verge of a return, with his Spanish boss rating him 50/50 to play against Shakhtar: “I think it’s gonna be close. We’ll have to see how he deals with training with the whole group because he hasn’t done it yet.”
The post-match discussion from the Bournemouth loss has been dominated by the red card shown to William Saliba, which left the visitors playing with 10 men for more than an hour. It was Arsenal’s third sending-off in the Premier League this season, and Arteta admitted the ill-discipline was proving costly.
“Playing with 10 men there is obviously an issue,” he stated. “When you analyse the three different actions and the outcomes it’s very different. We cannot continue to play with 10 men. The task becomes almost impossible. We need to eradicate that.”
He also said he would leave it to club officials as to whether Saliba’s red card was appealed, but denied his side needed to change their approach. “I think what happened in those three cases is nothing to do with aggression in my opinion,” he added. “We want to be competitive. It’s great.”
Arsenal have four points following their first two European games, drawing 0-0 at Atalanta before the 2-0 win over PSG. And another victory at the Emirates will leave them well-placed to make the knockout stages.
And despite criticism of his side’s performance in their latest blow, Arteta argued people were losing perspective, pointing out: “The context of this club is that Arsenal have lost just one game in the last six months.”
Following the Shaktar game, Arsenal face another crunch fixture at Anfield on Sunday against Liverpool. They’ll head to Merseyside now four points off the Premier League leaders, and three behind current champions Manchester City.
