Bukayo Saka's new injury will crush Arsenal's title hopes

Arsenal received devastating news Monday regarding their star attacker Bukayo Saka, and it could leave the Gunners in a precarious spot as the Premier League nears the halfway point of the season. Saka is expected to miss "many weeks" after suffering a hamstring injury during the weekend's emphatic 5-1 win against Crystal Palace, according to manager Mikel Arteta.

Saka will likely sit out four to six weeks, which would effectively put him on the sidelines for a minimum of eight matches across all competitions. The Gunners sit six points off league leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand.

However, the Premier League appears to be a three-team race at the top between the Reds, Chelsea and Arsenal after Manchester City fell way off their normal title pace. The Gunners have come close to title glory in recent seasons, but are still looking to end their 21-year Premier League drought.

The news couldn't come at a worse time for Arsenal given Saka's massive contributions to the club during the first half of the season. The England international leads his side with nine goals and 13 assists.

🚨BREAKING: Bukayo Saka is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks following the hamstring injury he picked up against Crystal Palace. pic.twitter.com/ThvynIoa2i
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) December 23, 2024

Despite Saka's immense success on the pitch, there has been a worrying trend with the 23 year old over recent seasons as his workload has begun to pile up. Since the start of the 2023/24 season, Saka has missed 23 games (and counting) for Arsenal and England with various muscular problems.

To make matters worse for the Gunners, the club is already thin at the right wing position after Raheem Sterling recently picked up a knee injury during training. That leaves the team likely relying on Gabriel Martinelli to slide into the starting right wing role, while Leandro Troussard slots into the Brazilian's position on the left.

🔴⚪️ Arteta on replacing Saka out for weeks: “I’m putting some ideas together, we will be doing new things as we did when Ødegaard was out”.

“Gabi has played there, Nwaneri and Trossard… also Havertz can play there. We will talk internally and see what’s the best solution”. pic.twitter.com/n9LRbSraXT
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 23, 2024

There's also a possibility that Arteta gets a bit more creative with his other attacking options, which he spoke about in short detail Monday. That could involve players like Kai Havertz or Martin Odegaard taking on new roles in the attacking to alleviate the void left by Saka.

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