{"id":291678,"date":"2023-10-08T16:24:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T16:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291678"},"modified":"2023-10-08T16:24:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T16:24:06","slug":"arteta-admits-he-was-tempted-to-risk-saka-against-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/arteta-admits-he-was-tempted-to-risk-saka-against-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"Arteta admits he was &apos;tempted to risk&apos; Saka against Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits he was &#8216;tempted to risk&#8217; Bukayo Saka in crucial clash with title rivals Man City<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Arsenal are currently drawing 0-0 with Man City in a top of the table clash<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mikel Arteta has admitted he was &#8216;tempted&#8217; to pick the injured Bukayo Saka<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Follow Mail Sport&#8217;s live coverage as Arsenal take on Man City at the Emirates\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted he was &#8216;tempted&#8217; to pick Bukayo Saka to face Man City despite the winger carrying an injury.<\/p>\n<p>Saka, who had played a club record 87 Premier League games in a row before Saturday&#8217;s title-top clash, picked up a muscular problem during a Champions League against Lens in the week.<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old has been left out for the game, with Leandro Trossard starting in his place on the right wing.<\/p>\n<p>Arteta admitted he considered taking a chance on his star player before the game, as he told Sky Sports: &#8216;<span>He [Saka] felt something, then obviously you are tempted to risk him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8216;But he wasn&#8217;t able to train yesterday so that put him out of the game straight away. It is [a big blow]. But we know we lost players in recent weeks and we have adapted to it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/16\/76304375-12607729-image-a-126_1696779676522.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted he was &#8216;tempted&#8217; to pick the injured Bukayo Saka for Sunday&#8217;s clash with Man City<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/16\/76304377-12607729-image-a-127_1696779680592.jpg\" height=\"392\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The winger picked up a muscle injury during Tuesday&#8217;s 2-1 Champions League loss to Lens<\/p>\n<p><span>&#8216;He&#8217;s a really important player for us, no question about that. The team has to have the resources that we have to make it even without him.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The champions are also without some of their most important players for the game, with absentees Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne leaving a sizable whole in their midfield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It comes in a rare moment of poor form for Man City, who have lost their last two domestic games against Newcastle and Wolves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Arsenal come into the game as one of two unbeaten sides in the league, but are a point behind Pep Guardiola&#8217;s side after draws against Tottenham and Fulham.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They did suffer something of an upset on Tuesday as Lens beat them 2-1 in a Champions League tie they were widely expected to win.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Gunners clash with City is currently level at 0-0 in a very loud Emirates Stadium.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/16\/76304591-12607729-image-a-128_1696779702837.jpg\" height=\"433\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Arsenal are currently drawing 0-0 with Man City in a match that will see the winner go top<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12607729\/Arsenal-boss-Mikel-Arteta-admits-tempted-risk-Bukayo-Saka-crucial-clash-title-rivals-Man-City.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits he was &#8216;tempted to risk&#8217; Bukayo Saka in crucial clash with title rivals Man City Arsenal are currently drawing 0-0 <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/arteta-admits-he-was-tempted-to-risk-saka-against-arsenal\/\" title=\"Arteta admits he was &amp;apos;tempted to risk&amp;apos; Saka against Arsenal\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Arteta admits he was &amp;apos;tempted to risk&amp;apos; Saka against Arsenal - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/arteta-admits-he-was-tempted-to-risk-saka-against-arsenal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arteta admits he was &amp;apos;tempted to risk&amp;apos; 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