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Bukayo Saka Arsenal injury latest ahead of Liverpool after Ian Wright's 'big deal' claim

Bukayo Saka leaves the field to be substituted after receiving medical treatment to an injury during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League B Group B2 match between England and Greece at Wembley Stadium.
-Credit: (Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)


Arsenal and Mikel Arteta face an anxious wait over Bukayo Saka ahead of a big Premier League match against Liverpool this weekend. The Arsenal talisman has missed the last two games due to an injury picked up while on international duty with England.

Ahead of the game at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday (4.30pm kick-off), there is still a significant doubt over the winger’s availability. It means that the Gunners could be without up to five first-team players for the game with Martin Odegaard Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori all expected to be out with injury, while William Saliba will be serving a one-match suspension after his red card vs Bournemouth.

If Saka can make a return against Liverpool it would be a significant boost to Arsenal. But the club must be careful of rushing him back and therefore face a dilemma.

With that in mind, here is the latest on what we know and what has been said about Saka’s injury and absence.

Key Saka point made

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has said that the game against Bournemouth showed how much Saka was missed by the side, due to the lack of chemistry between his replacement Raheem Sterling and right-back Ben White.

Speaking on Stick to Football, he said: “Going into the game, the way Bournemouth play and how hard they work… we couldn’t deal with Semenyo in that game.

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“Raheem Sterling and Ben White, they haven’t got the same chemistry as White and Saka and what we saw is how much you miss someone like Saka. Semenyo was too much for us, we couldn’t deal with him.

“Raheem… it is still not quite clicking for Raheem. I didn’t expect us to lose the game but when you look at the mistakes you should get punished and we did.”

He later added on the Liverpool game: “With five first team players missing, you can’t just act like it’s nothing, it’s a big deal for us because it’s five players that would be playing.”

Arteta update

Speaking on Tuesday, after Saka missed the Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk, Arteta gave the latest on his condition. "I think he's going to be close obviously," he said.

"We have to see how he deals with training with the whole group because he hasn't done that yet but he will be pretty close hopefully."

Liverpool decision

A decision on if Saka will feature against Liverpool is yet to be made, with the player being monitored closely by the club’s medical staff this week. Arsenal will prioritise Saka’s well-being and will not want to risk rushing him back and potentially worsening the injury.

More information on his potential availability will be available in the build-up to the match, when we will find out if he has been involved in training this week, and Arteta will give an update in his pre-match press conference on Friday.