Arsenal dealt injury hammer blow ahead of Man City clash as star man ruled out

Arsenal have been dealt a hammer blow ahead of their potentially season-defining Premier League clash with Manchester City this Sunday, with Bukayo Saka officially out injured. The Gunners have allowed City to creep back into the title race, but it's likely the race will come down to this Sunday.

City are six points behind Arsenal with a game in-hand, but with only six games remaining for Pep Guardiola's men after this weekend, it's likely they are going to have to beat the Gunners if they want to win the title.

If they do, the race could come down to goal difference, but if Arsenal can win or draw, they will be odds-on to end their more than two decade title drought, only needing to take care of their own business down the stretch.

Mikel Arteta confirms Bukayo Saka is out for Man City vs Arsenal

But their hopes of holding or beating City have been dealt a significant blow, with star man Bukayo Saka now confirmed as absent for Sunday's clash. Saka has been dealing with an Achilles issue, and he won't make it back for the City game.

Mikel Arteta confirmed in his pre-match press conference: “Bukayo Saka will be out against Man City. He's starting to do some stuff, so let's see that progression, how quickly we can go through it and then wait. But at the moment he’s not available."

Saka has eight goals and seven assists to his name across all competitions this season, but Arsenal will have to do without his creativity, and Noni Madueke, who started in Saka's absence during the week, is also a doubt having picked up a dead leg.

Providing an update on Madueke, Arteta added: "We have another training session tomorrow. He didn't look that bad after the game, and he was quite positive. He's a player who pushes through pain, so I'm hopeful that he can be available, but we have to wait and see if he's able to train tomorrow.

"We’ve had to cope with that [injuries] all season and if you look back at the stages and the players that we've missed for big, big, big periods and where we are, it's not normal where we are."

"But we have coped with that because of our mentality and the solutions that we find, the way the players have stepped up in this moment. And we are where we are. We are still very strong and we will remain the same way." Leandro Trossard will be the likely starter if Madueke is not deemed fit.

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