Arsenal have received a boost after early indications showed that the injuries suffered by Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are not as bad as first feared.
Mikel Arteta was worried that Saka had suffered a “significant” hamstring problem during their 5-0 victory over Leeds United on Saturday evening, which could have ruled him out of Arsenal’s crunch clash with Liverpool next weekend and beyond.
He missed nearly four months last season after hamstring surgery on his right leg. The Arsenal captain, Odegaard, was also injured against Leeds and left the pitch holding his right shoulder. Arteta said the pair would have scans on Sunday, though it is unclear whether they will miss the Liverpool fixture.
The England star, who missed several months of last season after surgery on his hamstring, opened his account for the new campaign with Arsenal’s second goal in first-half stoppage time
JOHN WALTON/PA
Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said on Saturday he was concerned that Saka had suffered the issue running clear during a breakaway. “I haven’t spoken to the doctor yet but for Bukayo to come off, it’s significant,” Arteta said at the time. “He felt something while he was sprinting. That’s never a good sign. We’ll have to wait tomorrow. But he’s had these injuries before. He knows exactly the feeling of that. So let’s wait. [For] Martin [it is] something in his shoulder. Two negatives of the day.”
Their potential absence at Anfield next Sunday would be a significant blow, in addition to Arsenal missing Kai Havertz, Ben White, Christian Norgaard and Gabriel Jesus from the home win over Leeds. Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal’s new £64million striker, struck twice and Max Dowman made his top-flight debut aged only 15 years and 235 days old.
Dowman is the second-youngest player in Premier League history, behind only his Arsenal team-mate Ethan Nwaneri, who was 15 years and 181 days old when he faced Brentford in September 2022. Nwaneri came on as a replacement for Odegaard on Sunday and the two youngsters combined for Dowman to win a late penalty, which Gyokeres converted.
“Credit to all the coaches involved in Max’s journey because there is a kid here that has zero hesitation,” Arteta said. “He’s so convinced that he can go at 15 and deliver that, which I’ve never witnessed in my life. And for us, it brings joy, it brings emotion and something else that makes our jobs so great.”
The afternoon began with Eberechi Eze being paraded on the pitch before kick-off as his signing from Crystal Palace was confirmed. Eze, 27, cost the club up to £67.5million and will wear the No10 shirt once worn by Dennis Bergkamp. A boyhood Arsenal fan, he appeared on the brink of joining their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur until this week, when the injury to Havertz prompted last season’s Premier League runners-up to hijack the deal.
Odegaard attempted to play on after taking a blow to his shoulder but was eventually replaced by Ethan Nwaneri before half-time
CATHERINE IVILL/GETTY
“He has the capacity to create these magic moments,” Arteta said of Eze. “He can do it from different positions, different situations. He’s got that flair, he’s got that charisma as well about him that is very contagious.
“He can play different positions. We know he can play as an attacking midfielder, right or left. He doesn’t care. He plays shifted off the left as well. He’s very comfortable there. We’ll gather information again the moment he’s on that pitch and starts to link and feel connection with people. I’m sure we will find the right place for him.
“He is a powerful and exciting player who will give us a new dimension in our attacking game. What stands out just as much as his talent and intelligence as a player is the way he has worked hard throughout his career to get where he is today. His journey, his mentality and his ambition are exactly what we want in our team, and we love how much it means to him and his family to be joining our club.”