Arsenal will play the waiting game this Christmas before rounding up Game Week 18 against Ipswich Town.

With eight Premier League fixtures inked in for an action-packed Boxing Day schedule, the Gunners welcome the recently-promoted Tractor Boys to the Emirates Stadium on Friday night (8.15pm) in a match that can be watched for free through Amazon Prime Video - with a few terms and conditions to apply.

Mikel Arteta was handed a double blow in the build-up, though, after confirming that Bukayo Saka would be out for several weeks. The England regular picked up an injury against Crystal Palace - while Raheem Sterling will now join him on the treatment table at London Colney as Arsenal resume their title charge.

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Saka, 23, has torn his right hamstring; the third time he's injured that part of his body this season. football.london understands that Saka will do well to make it back before late-January, as we take a closer look at the latest news regarding his fitness - with a Fantasy Premier League update;

What has been said about Saka's injury?

"It's not looking good, he's [Saka] going to be out for many weeks," said Arteta during his recent press conference when confirming the unwanted news to Arsenal supporters. The manager, though, did try to put a positive spin on the situation as he looks to conjure up a contingency plan.

"I'm putting some ideas together. I haven't got there yet, but I have a few," the Spaniard went on. "I want to speak with them [the players] as well and take it in a positive way. It means we're going to be different.

"We went through a period with Martin [Odegaard] [injured] and the period with five, six defenders missing. We're looking at it with positive energy."

Will Saka be fit to play Ipswich in GW18?

In short, the answer is no. In the FPL world, Saka has a red warning sign next to his name.

Effectively, that means he will play no part in Game Week 18 - but we knew that anyway - and FPL players have a few hours to remove him from their teams. Saka is currently owned by 27.6 per cent of online managers - with 107 points to show for his efforts so far this season.

He costs £10.5m and is the third most prolific player in-game. The deadline for Game Week 18 is 11am on Boxing Day.