Mikel Arteta has, seemingly, made it perfectly clear what his Bukayo Saka plan is for Arsenal‘s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid.
The Gunners’ talisman returned to the fold earlier this week after three months out due to a hamstring injury. Just six minutes into his cameo off their substitutes bench against Fulham at the Emirates Stadium, Saka headed home Arsenal’s second in a 2-1 victory.
For the trip to Everton just a few days later, Saka was yet again named on the bench, but his arrival into the game came much earlier. Although Leandro Trossard had put Arsenal a goal in front, Saka replaced Ethan Nwaneri at half-time with Gabriel Martinelli also coming on in place of Raheem Sterling.
The 23-year-old England star struggled to make another telling impact as a substitute, with Iliman Ndiaye scoring a controversial penalty to equalise, although Arteta would have been delighted to see him get more minutes under his belt. The huge question now centres around whether or not he’s in a position to start the first leg vs Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
Unsurprisingly, Arteta was asked about that exact decision following the 1-1 draw. “Well, he’s in a much better place,” the Arsenal manager said.
“Obviously, we have built that up. He played 30 minutes, then he’s played 49, a little bit less because we whistled before we ended the game. And after that, he will be in a much better place.”
Seeing how he has been eased back into the fold with 24 minutes against Fulham and double that over the weekend, Saka starting and playing between 60 and 70 minutes appears the most likely scenario.
Arteta is also facing some other rather important selection decisions with a replacement for Gabriel Magalhaes required. Jakub Kiwior put in a solid display alongside William Saliba at Goodison Park and, therefore, has a good chance of retaining his place.
Ben White and Jurrien Timber could also fill in at centre-back and with both back fit from minor issues picked up recently, Arteta could opt for one of them over Kiwior. Elsewhere, for the centre-forward spot, Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino are seemingly in direct competition.
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- Source: NEWHD MEDIA
