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Tonight, Arsenal comes up against Port Vale away from home in the EFL Cup third round. It's a fixture that Arsenal should be winning comfortably, but more importantly, it gives Mikel Arteta the opportunity to rotate his squad.
This season so far, the Gunners have struggled to put together a coherent starting lineup, through no fault of Mikel Arteta's. The Spanish coach has been bombarded with injury after injury, and his key players have been particularly struck. That's just the Arsenal way, really.
So far, Arsenal have missed the likes of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, William Saliba and Martin Ødegaard at different stages of the season. And yes, it's only been a month.
Arsenal fans could hardly celebrate Saka's return before this injury blow
In Bukayo Saka's place, Noni Madueke has shone. The former Chelsea winger has been a complete revelation, and arguably Arsenal's most consistent performer of the season so far.
On Sunday, when Arsenal hosted Man City in one of the most boring Premier League games known to man, Bukayo Saka made his return. And his presence on the pitch was immediately known, as the second half went much better for Arsenal the first.
Saka replaced Noni Madueke at halftime, and now we all know the reason why.
According to The Athletic, Noni Madueke is anticipated to miss around two months of action for the Gunners. It's believed to be a knee injury, and thankfully, scans show he avoided an ACL injury.
This injury couldn't have come at a worse time for Noni Madueke, personally. Arsenal has the squad depth to navigate such injuries, and with Bukayo Saka back in contention, it won't impact the club too much. However, Madueke will really be kicking himself (not literally, we hope).
Madueke was gaining some epic momentum in recent weeks. He was genuinely making the question of Bukayo Saka returning to the left a legitimate one, so that he could stay in the starting lineup even after Saka's injury.
Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, that question doesn't need to be answered anymore. Madueke will miss the next chunk of Arsenal's fixtures and at least one international break for England.
In a season where Noni Madueke will want to play every possible minute to please Thomas Tuchel before the World Cup, this will be a difficult one for him to take. The bounce back will need to be even harder than the setback.