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Arsenal legend Thierry Henry reckons the Gunners might have lost their protagonist Bukayo Saka to injury ahead of the clash with Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday (October 8).
Saka, 22, started the Gunners' 2-1 UEFA Champions League defeat at Lens on Tuesday. The attacker provided the assist for Gabriel Jesus' 14th-minute opener but hobbled off injured in the 34th minute with a suspected hamstring injury.
Lens had equalised through Adrien Thomasson nine minutes before Saka went out. The Ligue 1 side then scored the winner in the 69th minute through Elye Wahi to hand the Gunners their first defeat in 11 games across competitions this season.
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A bigger loss for Mikel Arteta's side is Saka - who appears likely to be unavailable for the City clash on Sunday. Henry said on CBS Sports (via TBR):
"It’s tough to win away from home in Europe. Now, you lose, it can happen, but also it looks like you might have lost Bukayo Saka. People were talking about Rodri not playing at the weekend – suddenly, you don’t have your, for me, in my eyes, the main man at Arsenal right now, playing against Man City at the weekend.”
Saka has been a regular for the Gunners this season, bagging five goals and as many assists in 10 games across competitions, starting each outing. He was not in the squad for the 1-0 EFL Cup win at Brentford, though.
Meanwhile, the defeat at Lens (4) dropped the Gunners to second in their Champions League group after two matchdays. Arteta's side are a point above third-placed Sevilla (2), while PSV Eindhoven (1) are fourth.
What Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said about Bukayo Saka's injury
One of the first questions Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faced in his post-game press conference after the Champions League defeat at Lens was the injury to Bukayo Saka.
The Gunners boss said that Saka sustained the injury while trying a backheel in the first half and wasn't good enough to continue. Explaining that he hasn't got more details about the injury, Arteta said (via the club's website):
"He tried to backheel the ball in the first half and felt something. It was something muscular, and he was uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off. We don’t know anything more than that. Obviously, it was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game, and that’s obviously a worry for us."
The Spaniard added that he doesn't yet know whether the injury will keep Saka out of the clash with City at the Emirates this weekend.
"I have no clue, I don’t know."
Arteta's side are just a point behind leaders City (18) after seven games. A win against the reigning three-time champions will take the Gunners top of the table depending on results elsewhere.
