Mikel Arteta Admits Bukayo Saka Was In A Lot Of Pain

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that both Bukayo Saka and Willian picked up injuries against Leeds United.

Both players had to be taken off in the 0-0 draw at Elland Road last night.

Willian was taken off at half-time for Reiss Nelson to have a go. Arteta explained, “He was feeling something muscular and we had to take him off.”

Saka came on in place of Joe Willock to really impact the game late on. After Nicolas Pepe’s red card, it was not easy for Arsenal to hold off this Leeds team. The Peacocks had over 20 chances on goal and had three knocked off the post.

Saka’s energy and creativity sparked some great counter-attacks for the Gunners, one even leading to him being one-on-one with Illan Meslier. He ended up missing the attempt but kept pressing Leeds until a tackle saw him go down.

Mikel Arteta said, “We’re going to have to assess with the medical staff how bad it is, but it looked like a pretty bad challenge and he was in pain so we decided to take him out straight away.”

Arsenal fans will be hoping that Saka’s injury is not serious. He has been their best creative outlet. Losing him would be a huge blow in difficult times such as this.

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