Mikel Arteta provides injury update on Bukayo Saka and 3 other Arsenal stars after 2-0 Sevilla win
Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Martin Odegaard, and Eddie Nketiah after Arsenal's win over Sevilla on Wednesday, November 8.
The Gunners beat Sevilla 2-0 at the Emirates in the UEFA Champions League. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring in the 29th minute and Saka added the second in the 64th minute.
During the game, however, Saka came off in the 85th minute after appearing to be struggling with his ankle. After the game, Arteta provided an update on the Englishman's injury, saying (via Online Gooner):
"It was just a kick and I was told by the physios on the radio that he wasn’t happy to continue so he will have some discomfort but hopefully, I want to assume that he will be ok."
Tomiyasu was also subbed off at halftime with Oleksandr Zinchenko. About the Japanese fullback, Arteta said:
"Yeah, he had some discomfort in the first half and we didn’t want to take any risks. He’s played a lot of minutes and obviously having Alex [Zinchenko] on the bench ready to come in, I think it was the right decision."
Odegaard and Nketiah weren't in the matchday squad but the Arsenal manager confirmed that they are close to recovery, saying:
"They are racing against the clock to be fit and they are trying their best and they tried to be here today with us. It wasn’t possible and now we have another 48 hours before we play Burnley. We will try again and we will see because we need players at the moment."
With the win, Arsenal just need one point in their remaining two games to confirm their qualification for the Champions League knockout rounds.
Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's response after Newcastle defeat
The Gunners suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season at Newcastle United last weekend. They were beaten 1-0 at St. James' Park due to a controversial Anthony Gordon goal.
However, Arsenal bounced back well to beat Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday to remain top of the group. After the game, Arteta was asked if he was pleased with his side's response after the Newcastle defeat and he replied:
"I think it was more of the really good things that we did against Newcastle, we didn't need a response because the team performed extraordinarily well against a team that are really difficult to play against."
"Today it needed other requirements, tactically we needed something else, we played at home, we need a different game, and we implemented what we wanted really, really well, so I'm really happy with the last two performances."
Arsenal will now turn their attention to the Premier League where they host Burnley on Saturday, November 11. The Gunners are fourth in the league, three points behind leaders Manchester City.