Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Bukayo Saka “will be out for a couple of weeks” after the Arsenal winger sustained a hamstring injury during the 5-0 drubbing of Leeds United last weekend.
The England star was forced off in the 53rd minute, having scored the second goal on the stroke of half-time in the win over Daniel Farke’s side, and Arteta says Saka will miss the trip to Anfield on Sunday to face Liverpool in the Premier League.
“Yeah, Bukayo’s doing better, but he will be out for a few weeks, unfortunately,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference today.
When asked whether the injury would require surgery, he said: “No, no surgery. It’s not as bad as the previous one [that kept Saka out for three months last season].
"He’s very unfortunate to pick it up; he’s on the other side. It’s an action that requires full power from him; then he clashes with the opponent. He needs to change pace again, and he felt something, so he will be out for a couple of weeks.”
Saka was not named in Thomas Tuchel's England squad today, having picked up the injury, as the Three Lions play crucial qualifying games for the 2026 World Cup against Andorra and Serbia in the upcoming international break.
On whether Saka could be available for the return of club football in two weeks, he said: “I don’t know. Let’s see how he evolves in the next few days, few weeks. [We will] repeat the scan and see where he’s at.”
Captain Martin Ødegaard was also withdrawn in the victory over Leeds, replaced by Ethan Nwaneri after landing awkwardly on his shoulder.
Initial reports suggested that the Norwegian’s injury may not be as bad as first feared, although Arteta was coy on Ødegaard’s chances of making the matchday squad for the crunch clash with Arne Slot’s side.
Arteta explained: “We don’t know yet. He hasn’t trained yet, and if he does, it will be tomorrow. Let’s see. He’s doing everything he can, and we’re doing everything that we can to make him available, but we will have to wait and see tomorrow.
“There is an injury there, but hopefully if everything goes well, he can cope with it, but we don’t know yet.”
Kai Havertz will also be absent at Anfield after he underwent what Arsenal described as a ‘successful minor surgical procedure’, and it is expected that the German international will be out for weeks rather than months.
Speaking on Havertz, Arteta said: “I think it will be weeks, but I don’t know how many months. Very unfortunate, very sad for him. I think he did incredibly well to recover from the previous one [injury]. He’s never had an injury before, and sadly, this happens.
“But this is our profession, part of football; we need to live with that. Obviously, we lose another big player for many, many weeks, but it [surgery] was the right thing to do. The doctor’s advice, and I think he was very convinced in the end that it was the quickest and the best way to solve that issue.”
Ben White and Christian Norgaard were also absent from the Leeds match, and Arteta said: “So that’s another two. We don’t know yet [if the pair will be available for Liverpool]. Tomorrow, we have another day. Let’s see how they evolve. There is a chance to keep them involved in the game.”
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