Arteta hints that Arsenal could be missing two key players ahead of Man United clash

It looks like Arsenal might have a couple of players missing their upcoming match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Mikel Arteta mentioned in his press conference that there are some doubts surrounding the availability of Bukayo Saka and Takehiro Tomiyasu for the upcoming game due to injury concerns. However, he did not provide any specific details about the nature of the injuries.

Bukayo Saka
Saka has been absolutely fantastic. The Arsenal No. 7 has had an impressive season, with 20 goals and 14 assists. It’s clear that he has played a crucial role for Arsenal this year. Arsenal can still function without him, but they’re definitely better off with him in the starting 11.

If he were to miss the clash with United, it would be a significant loss. However, the Gooners can find comfort in the fact that the team won both league matches that the Englishman didn’t play in this season. The Gunners managed to secure victories against Manchester City and Luton with scores of 1-0 and 2-0, respectively, even without Saka.

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Compared to Saka, Tomiyasu has already missed a large number of games due to injuries, which some may argue have had less impact on the team. However, over the last few weeks, he has managed to secure a position at left back and has started in 4 out of the last 5 Arsenal games (across all competitions).

He has been Mikel Arteta’s go-to player during the PL Run-In, and it would be a significant blow if he’s sidelined with an injury. However, Kiwior, who stepped up after the winter break, has proven himself as a worthy replacement, and of course Zinchenko is also a possibility.

“A few doubts over the names [Saka and Tomiyasu] that you discussed, yes,” Arteta said, referring to the two. “We can resolve this with another training session. So we’ll have to see.”

Thanks to Arsenal’s expanded squad we luckily have quality backups for these two, and I would fully expect Gabriel Jesus to be the one to replace Saka on the wing, and the replacement for Tomiyasu probably depends on how Arteta wants to set out his tactics against Man United.

But we should be unduly weakened if these two go missing should we?