Arsenal Set to Miss Five Players for Bournemouth Clash as Bukayo Saka Decision ‘”Confirmed”

Arsenal will face Bournemouth on Saturday evening, knowing that a victory would move them ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool to claim the top spot in the Premier League.

Securing all three points at the Vitality Stadium would be a strong signal of Arsenal’s ambitions, especially with both Manchester City and Liverpool scheduled to play on Sunday.

However, Mikel Arteta is dealing with several injury concerns, and some players will need to pass late fitness tests ahead of the 5:30 pm kick-off.

Bukayo Saka is among those players after suffering a muscle injury during England’s 2-1 loss to Greece last week. Despite the setback, Arteta is optimistic that the 23-year-old will be fit enough to make the trip. “It’s not a serious injury,” Arteta said to reporters on Friday morning.

“He’s evolving really well. He’s done a few things in the last few days when he came back from the national team after the second game. We are hopeful. We have a training session this afternoon and he did some bits yesterday, so let’s see if he can make it on time.”

Arteta provided a relatively optimistic update on Saka, which, when paired with Lee Carsley’s remarks that the Hale End product “would have been close” to joining England’s squad for Sunday’s trip to Finland, offers hope for Saturday’s game.

Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli are also fitness concerns ahead of the Bournemouth match, though the German is expected to be fit for the clash against the Cherries.

“Yeah, he had a few issues and we’ve been dealing with that. He’s been absolutely brilliant,” Arteta said on Havertz.

“He has very good communication with the national team and the manager. They understood the situation. We have modified everything that we could do here and if he trains well today he has a good chance to be fit and available.”

Martinelli, who picked up a calf issue while with Brazil, is a doubt for the game, however. “Gabi landed yesterday afternoon, so we’ve had a very short time to be with him,” Arteta said.

“Yesterday [Thursday] he went outside to do a little bit and see how he’s feeling. Today will be another step to understand whether we want to take the risk if he’s fit. I know what the player is going to say ‘I’m going to be fit’.”

Arteta confirmed that club captain Martin Odegaard will be unavailable for Saturday’s game as he recovers from a foot injury. He also mentioned that Ben White, Jurrien Timber, and Oleksandr Zinchenko are “quite close” to returning.

“Today we will have to push and see who is because we are stronger with the numbers, especially on our right side. Hopefully we have some positive news today and we’ll have some players back tomorrow,” Arteta said.

Thomas Partey is fit and will be included in the matchday squad, though Kieran Tierney remains unavailable. Neto, currently on loan from Bournemouth, is ineligible to play against his parent club, so Tommy Setford is expected to join the squad and serve as backup for David Raya. Setford has also been recovering from injury in recent weeks but returned to training this week.

Arteta also confirmed Takehiro Tomiyasu has sustained a fresh injury in what is a big blow ahead of a crucial run of games. “We don’t know that (how long he will be out for). It doesn’t look like, hopefully, a long period but we have to see when he comes back how he reacts to the load and to the impact on the pitch as well,” Arteta said.

“But we really need him, he has been incredible, his work rate, the amount of hours he has put in to get back. He did it and he was in great shape – and now he has got something else again. But, we are all behind him. He needs our support and hopefully he will be fine.”

Considering the information above, it seems Arsenal will be missing Odegaard, Tierney, Tomiyasu, and Neto, while Martinelli’s participation remains uncertain. This suggests that Arteta will have to manage without at least five senior players for Saturday’s match.

According to the official Arsenal website, the Gunners have 17 fit and eligible senior players ready for the game against Bournemouth. Under Premier League regulations, a club can name a squad of 20 players for a match, indicating that a few academy prospects will need to step up.

As previously mentioned, Setford will serve as backup for Raya since Neto is unavailable to play against his parent club. Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly are expected to be the other two young players included in the squad, as both are now regularly training with the first team.

Possible Arsenal squad for Bournemouth: Raya, Setford; Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Calafiori, White, Timber, Zinchenko; Partey, Rice, Merino, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Nwaneri; Saka, Trossard, Sterling, Jesus, Havertz.

Senior players unavailable for Bournemouth: Odegaard (ankle injury), Tomiyasu (knee injury), Tierney (hamstring injury), Neto (ineligible), Martinelli (calf injury – doubt).

In other news, How Arsenal Could Line-up Without Bukayo Saka vs Bournemouth as Mammoth Run of Fixtures on the Horizon