Bukayo Saka is likely to be sidelined until at least March following surgery on his hamstring, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed.
Arsenal moved back up to second in the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory over Ipswich at the Emirates – their first fixture without Saka after the England winger tore his right hamstring in a 5-1 win against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Prior to Friday’s fixture, Arteta said Saka, 23, would be sidelined for “many weeks”, but speaking in the moments after his side saw out a win that keeps the pressure on leaders Liverpool, Arteta afforded a grizzlier timeframe for his star man.
“He has had a procedure and everything went well, but unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks,” said Arteta.
Bukayo Saka. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“It will be more than two months. I don’t know exactly how much longer. It will depend on how the scar tissue starts to heal, the first week or so, and the mobility of that. It is very difficult to say.
“The replacement of Bukayo is going to be the team. There were moments where it flowed well tonight and moments where you could see there is still work to do. But I am certain that we are going to do that. We have to rely on the team and not the individual.”
The length of Saka’s injury will come as a significant blow to Arteta, who is bidding to oversee Arsenal’s first Premier League title in two decades.
Arteta’s men are now six points behind leaders Liverpool, who enjoy a game in hand.
Second-from-bottom Ipswich had won two of their last three away matches but were up against it from the start at the Emirates.
“I’m very happy with the victory, with the clean sheet, and with big parts of the game,” said Arteta.
“It’s a really difficult opposition. We’re playing so many games. You see that teams are winning for very small margins. Today we could have done the margins much bigger. At the end we didn’t. But we held our nerves in the last few minutes, you know, to defend well in the areas that we had to do, and I’m very, very happy.”
The visitors did not have one touch in the Gunners’ box during the first 45 minutes and, although Ipswich showed signs of life after the break, it was Arsenal who continued to dominate the game, marshalled by Declan Rice in midfield.
Kai Havertz got the only goal midway through the first half when he knocked in a cross from Leandro Trossard.
Havertz, Rice, Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus all had chances but none of them could add to Arsenal’s tally.
Arsenal are a point above third-place Chelsea and two points clear of season surprise team Nottingham Forest in fourth.
Earlier, Brighton had most of the chances but could not find the net in a 0-0 draw with Brentford that extended the south coast club’s winless run in the Premier League to six games.
It was a frustrating night for the home side and especially Julio Enciso. The Paraguay striker had a host of opportunities to score but couldn’t make them count.
Along with Southampton, Brentford have the worst away record in the league with seven losses and two draws and it was easy to see why in this toothless performance.
Brentford had an early goal from Yoane Wissa ruled out for offside and, although they came a bit more into the game in the second half, they failed to pressure Icelandic goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson, who made his Premier League debut eight minutes before half-time when Mark Flekken went off with a thigh injury.
One bright spot for the home side was the return of winger Solly March. He came on as a late substitute to make his first appearance for Brighton since injuring a knee against Manchester City 14 months ago.
The result leaves Brighton in 10th place with 26 points, one spot and two points ahead of the Bees.
© AAP