Injury guru: ‘Common sense is out the window’ at Arsenal after Saka images emerge in last 24 hrs
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had no choice but to throw “common sense out the window” and start Bukayo Saka against Liverpool last week.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Saka played 81 minutes of the 0-0 draw with Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final first leg last Thursday (13 January) before he was forced off.
As quoted by The Express last Friday (14 January), Mikel Artea said the 20-year-old “felt something” late on and was “really fatigued”.
But as relayed by football.london reporter Connor Humm on Twitter yesterday (19 January), Saka has been pictured back in training at Hale End.
Dinnery expects the 20-year-old to play a part in the second leg at the Emirates tonight (20 January).
“This is one of those instances when managers are forced to play players who they would ideally rest,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“There is that lack of options coming off the bench because of the demands of Covid and the fixture schedule. He has played a lot of minutes in recent times.
“Arteta himself said that he’s still young, still adapting to the rigours of the Premier League, even though it seems like he’s been around for a long time.
“So it’s a difficult one but all the lines are blurred for the clubs at the moment. As we always say, it’s about balancing that risk and reward.
“The common sense is maybe out of the window at times because they’ve got no other choice.
“We’re talking about a semi-final and players are always going to want to put themselves on the line for that.
“Will he be back for the second leg? He was flagged as a major doubt for the North London derby, but he’s had another seven days to recover.
“There was hope that it was more of a fatigue-related issue as opposed to a pull or strain.
“That gives him a very good chance of returning for the second leg.“
The winner of tonight’s clash will play Chelsea in the final at Wembley.
Saka has registered seven goals and four assists in 24 outings this term.
In other news, Kevin Campbell suggests Arsenal have dropped major hint over William Saliba future after confirmed news.