Arsenal suffer worrying Bukayo Saka blow for Aston Villa

Arsenal were last up on the Premier League fixture list for the previous round of matches, only to curiously find themselves at the opposite end on Friday as they host Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

A huge opportunity presented itself for Mikel Arteta and his team as six points from their two weekday fixtures would have catapulted them up into the top four positions ahead of everyone else playing.

Scraping a last minute 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace on Monday ensured those hopes fizzled out already. A desperately limp performance included only two half-decent 15-minute spells either end of the match as it required an Alexandre Lacazette equaliser at the death to spare some blushes.

But there is no hiding from the level of performance produced, which was desperately below the standard this team should be producing under this manager.

Arsenal suffer worrying Bukayo Saka blow for Aston Villa with forward yet to train – Mikel Arteta also reveals other players may miss out

Decisions can change games, though. While it’s no excuse for the inept, dull and lifeless display, James McArthur escaped a clear red card in the first half as he thumped Bukayo Saka with a hideous and malicious kick on the leg.

Only receiving a yellow card for his actions, the ‘foul’ forced Saka off at half-time and speaking in his press conference ahead of the visit of the Villans, Arteta revealed that the 20-year-old still hadn’t trained with the rest of the team ahead of Thursday’s afternoon session.

Pressed for an answer on whether he’d be fit, the manager said ‘I’m not a betting man’.

The Spaniard also remained tight-lipped on other absentees, only stating that ‘two or three’ of the players finished the Palace draw with discomforts that would be assessed on Thursday’s session before a final decision would be made for Friday.

It’s a hammer blow. Many will unironically claim that’s partly down to the likelihood that Nicolas Pepe will earn another start, although the reality is that Saka is one of the Gunners’ best players and his importance is undoubted.

Keeping his cards close to his chest on possible injuries – perhaps with an eye on mind games for Dean Smith – working on the basis that the only person to miss Friday’s game is Saka, it could mean a front four of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Pepe, Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe. If, that is, that the 4-2-3-1 is how Arteta chooses to set up.

Fingers are crossed.