Arsenal have suffered another major injury blow ahead of their Friday clash with Ipswich Town. The Gunners are fresh off their 5-1 demolition of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
However, despite the convincing win, fans must have been unhappy seeing talisman Bukayo Saka going off after 24 minutes. The England international was pictured on crutches leaving the south London club.
Just as Arsenal fans were stomaching the blow of losing their star player, his back-up has also suffered an injury and will be unavailable for weeks.
Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea to provide cover for the flanks, but he has been disappointing since joining the Gunners. Just when the club needed him the most, he has picked up an injury and will also be out for weeks.
In his press conference today, Arteta announced thatSterling is “out for weeks”with a knee injury, leaving the Gunners with only Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, and Ethan Nwaneri as options.
The injury comes at a challenging time for Arsenal, who face a gruelling schedule of ten matches across all competitions before the end of January.
Saka and Sterling will miss the league clash against Ipswich Town on Friday, along with high-profile fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The pair will also be unavailable for two Champions League group-stage games, a League Cup semi-final first leg against Newcastle United, and an FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester United.
The bulk of the blame lies atArteta’s feet. His horrendous mismanagement ofSaka’s minutes has led to this injury, and his overuse of the winger can derail his long-term future.
Also, his decision to loan Fabio Vieira and sell Reiss Nelson when they needed options to compete on multiple fronts made no sense. Now, he has to deal with a threadbare squad, and the coming weeks will test his mettle.