Mikel Arteta is speaking to the press ahead of tomorrow evening’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa, and admitted that Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka hasn’t trained since Monday.
The England international was deliberately taken out of the game by James Macarthur, with the midfielder getting off extremely lightly with a yellow card, and Saka was seen to be struggling as he attempted to play out the remaining minutes of the half, before having to be replaced at the break.
Arteta has now confirmed that he has been missing from training since the fixture, with the youngster one of ‘two or three’ who will need be assessed today.
Arteta speaking now – Says Saka will be assessed today. He hasn't trained yet since Monday night.
"We have two or three players who finished the game with some issues, we will look today."
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) October 21, 2021
Saka was our Player of the Year for the previous season, and will be a big loss to our team should he miss the tough clash at the Emirates on Friday, while Macarthur on the other hand will be free to continue to play when his side take on Newcastle on Saturday, with him going relatively unpunished for his actions.
Will further action be taken on Macarthur by the FA?
Patrick
I don’t think any action in retrospect can be taken against MacArthur as the referee deemed it not a red but action has been taken against the referee as he has been suspended from Prem games this weekend.
Macarthur deserved a straight red for his action but sadly that was not the case. Happy though the ref has been suspended.