Mikel Arteta explains Bukayo Saka absence from Arsenal matchday squad v Bournemouth
Today at 12:18 PM
Arsenal are set to take on Bournemouth in Saturday’s 5:30pm Premier League encounter at the Vitality Stadium.
The Gunners went into the October break on the back of four consecutive wins in all competitions, and remain unbeaten this season.
Arsenal, who currently sit third in the Premier League table, are set to take on a Bournemouth side that currently sit 13th in the table.
When the team news was announced at 4:15pm, there was a notable omission in the Gunners squad, namely Bukayo Saka.
As per the Arsenal website, the Gunners forward missed out due to a ‘slight hamstring issue’ picked up during international duty with England in October.
Saka sustained the problem during the Three Lions’ loss to Greece last week and missed Sunday’s win over Finland.
Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the game, explained Saka’s absence from the squad to take on Bournemouth.
“We tried the last few days but he didn’t have the right feeling,” Arteta said, as transcribed by BBC Sport.
“There was no point pushing him and we have very good options as well.”
Other Arsenal team news v Bournemouth
Saka was replaced by Trossard in the starting XI, while Arteta also handed a full debut to Mikel Merino, who came in for Jorginho.
The third change from Arsenal’s game against Southampton saw Ben White return to the starting XI ahead of Gabriel Jesus.
With Neto ineligible to play against his parent club, academy goalkeeper Tommy Setford took his place on the bench.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was deemed fit enough to be on the bench, while academy forward Ismeal Kabia replaced Nathan Butler-Oyedeji among the substitutes.
