An innocuous swing of his left boot, a "sharp pain" in his quadriceps, and now an anxious wait for Arsenal. Bukayo Saka's injury was a blot on a positive night against Bayern Munich. Mikel Arteta offered a gloomy initial prognosis after his 10th-minute withdrawal, revealing his medical staff were "concerned" and adding that it "doesn't look good at all" in his press conference.
The injury is the latest in a string of setbacks for Saka, who was almost always available between 2020/21 and 2023/24 but has struggled with hamstring, Achilles and hip issues since. Saka was pictured limping as he left the Allianz Arena and his latest injury comes with Arteta's attack already depleted by the absence of summer signing Christos Tzolis, who was said to be "weeks" away from returning from a thigh issue last week. Arsenal's frontline is already lighter than the club hoped it would be after they were unsuccessful in their efforts to sign Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez during the summer transfer window.
Saka's importance can be seen in Arsenal's record with and without him. Since his emergence as a regular starter in the 2020/21 season, Arsenal have a win rate of 64.2 per cent in Premier Leagues games he has started compared to 53.3 per cent in games he hasn't. The Gunners also average significantly more shots and goals per game with Saka starting.
The difference in results was especially stark last season, when Arsenal won 76 per cent of their games with him starting compared to 53.8 per cent without him. Saka's form has come under scrutiny lately. He was below-par in the recent Premier League wins over Nottingham Forest and Leeds.
But there was a goal and an assist off the bench against Lille last week and he continues to add immense value to their attack. He is Arsenal's leading scorer in the Premier League this season with three goals and also ranks top among Arsenal players for shots, touches in the opposition box and expected goals. The underlying data suggests he is in fact more of a goal threat than ever.
Gradient Sports' grading system has Saka as the Premier League's best-performing player in terms of execution this season, above Elliot Anderson. He even ranks top among Arsenal players for tackles, showing how his value extends to his off-the-ball work. Eberechi Eze came on for Saka against Bayern Munich.
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