Bukayo Saka injury sets alarm bells ringing as Arsenal blueprint comes undone

latest injury knock would've had alarm bells ringing for as the manager is forced to rethink his first-choice plan.

Saka limped off midway through defeat against Greece last week and didn't travel with the squad to Finland for Sunday's clash.

, it's sent a warning to Arteta, who could be forced into a change of tack for the talented forward.

Since breaking into the Arsenal senior side, Saka has played an awful lot of football. Some might even argue he's played too much football.

In the last three seasons alone, the London-born ace has missed just seven matches for the Gunners, only three of which were in the Premier League.

It means since August 2022 Saka has featured either from the start or as a substitute in 80 of Arsenal's 83 Premier League outings.

That trend extends to cup and continental competitions too, with Saka having played all but one of their 20 Champions League and Europa League matches in the same time period.

Heads were being scratched last month when Saka wasn't only named in the starting line-up for Arsenal's League Cup third-round clash against Bolton, but stayed on the pitch for 70 of the 90 minutes.

Couple that with the increased workload from domestic cup, Champions League and international fixtures, and it's clear Saka's current minutes just aren't sustainable.

It's an understandable approach from Arteta, given how instrumental he is on the pitch for the north Londoners - Saka already has nine goal contributions for the 2024/25 Premier League season.

If he's not careful though, Saka's minor niggles could very quickly turn into a major problem.

Take Rodri as an example. Pep Guardiola was entirely dependable on the midfielder, who after picking up an ACL injury against Arsenal, now won't play again this season.

Simply put, Arteta has to find a way of rotating Saka out of the starting XI for lesser matches, while maintaining Arsenal's high standards. Otherwise, it could cost Arsenal a shot at silverware this season.

The addition of Raheem Sterling, at least on paper, should help. Adept at playing across the front three, the ex-Manchester City ace will be able to alleviate some of the right-wing pressure on Saka's shoulders.

But it's finding the belief that things won't go array if Saka doesn't feature that appears to be Arteta's biggest challenge.

The Spainard has to have the confidence in his squad players to perform in Saka's absence - something that right now doesn't look as if is there.