An injury to Bukayo Saka (£9.6m) looks set to cause more disruption in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) as we approach Gameweek 8.
The winger lasted just 10 minutes of Arsenal’s entertaining 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with a quad injury putting paid to his evening. It remains to be seen how long he’ll be out for.
Saka’s injury follows news that Antoine Semenyo (£8.3m) is out for two months, while Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.8m) was reinjured last weekend. It’s been a bit of a tumultuous week for Fantasy midfielders.
Here we go, then, with our FPL notes from the Allianz Arena. The stats and graphics in this article come from our UCL Match Centre.
GOALS/ASSISTS
| Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Bayern Munich 2-2 Arsenal | Eze, Rice | Odegaard, Gyokeres |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW7 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 2 | Raya (90), Konsa (90), Gabriel (90), Calafiori (90), Rice (90), Odegaard (85), Guimaraes (69), Havertz (68), Saka (10) | Timber (90), Madueke (90), Eze (80), Gyokeres (22), Lewis-Skelly (21), Merino (5) |
ARSENAL
- Saka’s issue was no mere contact injury. He was unmarked and passing the ball forward when he suddenly clutched his thigh in real pain before hitting the turf. On came the physios but Saka’s race was done. It all depends on the grade of injury but we’re surely not going to see him in Gameweek 8, and the severity of it will dictate whether we’re talking in terms of weeks or months. Mikel Arteta didn’t sound too positive after the match.
“Against Lille, he didn’t start the game. Then he started the game at the weekend, and [the injury] was very early in the game. I don’t know. The level of intensity these games require is something incredible.
“The strength, the quality, the attention, the level that you need, is unbelievable, it’s the highest level, and those things happen, unfortunately.
“It doesn’t look good at all, but we have to wait and see.” – Mikel Arteta, in his post-match presser, on whether Bukayo Saka’s injury is a result on the intense schedule
“They are a bit concerned. A player that has to come off with a really sharp pain is never good news but we’ll have to wait and see.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka, to TNT Sports
- Noni Madueke (£6.2m) looks set to be a beneficiary in the event of Saka’s absence. Starting on the left here, he switched flanks when Saka exited and Eberechi Eze (£6.2m) came on.
- And, assuming Saka is out for a while and Viktor Gyokeres (£7.0m) continues to play second fiddle up top, could Martin Odegaard (£6.8m) be the one who inherits penalty-taking duties? He’s taken them in the past, but then so has Kai Havertz (£7.5m). Odegaard has already taken over other dead-ball duties from Saka; the Norwegian was on corners from the right against Bayern.
- Odegaard was impressive in Munich, supplying a superb assist for Eze and registering a team-best three chances created:
- Odegaard and Declan Rice‘s (£7.3m) corners did cause problems. Bruno Guimaraes (£6.7m) had two excellent chances from set plays, Havertz another, while Riccardo Calafiori (£6.0m) couldn’t turn in a deflected delivery at, and almost on, the back post.
- Calafiori actually had more shots than any other Gunner (four), three of which were from set pieces:
- Eze really impressed, although the problem with him and Madueke – especially when it comes to FPL appeal – is their inconsistency. One fine display has often been followed up by a sub-par showing and an early withdrawal. Contrast that with Odegaard and Rice, who have been continually great all term. Much may depend on the productivity of Madueke and Eze in the coming weeks, should Saka be ruled out.
- Rice lashed in Arsenal’s equaliser to make it 2-2, having been teed up nicely by Gyokeres. The Swede actually did quite well here, and with Havertz again off the boil, you wonder if he’ll get a chance in the Premier League soon.
- Arteta barely rotated for this clash, with Madueke for Eze and Jurrien Timber (£6.5m) for Ben White (£5.4m) being his only changes. This was the middle fixture in a Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday turnaround, so could the Arsenal boss make changes at home to Everton this weekend? Calafiori, for instance, only once started all three games in a Sun-Wed-Sat turnaround last season – and one of those run-outs ended after 45 minutes. The good thing is that an EFL Cup tie against Fleetwood Town awaits after the Toffees, so Arteta can rotate to his heart’s content in that.
