Setback to Arsenal's title hopes as star player Saka out for more than two months

BUKAYO SAKA IS likely to be sidelined until at least March following surgery on his hamstring, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed.

Arsenal moved back up to second in the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory over Ipswich at the Emirates – their first fixture without Saka after the England winger tore his right hamstring in a 5-1 win against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Prior to Friday’s fixture, Arteta said Saka, 23, would be sidelined for “many weeks”, but speaking in the moments after his side saw out a win that keeps the pressure on leaders Liverpool, Arteta afforded a grizzlier timeframe for his star man.

“He has had a procedure and everything went well, but unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks,” said Arteta.

“It will be more than two months. I don’t know exactly how much longer. It will depend on how the scar tissue starts to heal, the first week or so, and the mobility of that. It is very difficult to say.

“The replacement of Bukayo is going to be the team. There were moments where it flowed well tonight and moments where you could see there is still work to do. But I am certain that we are going to do that. We have to rely on the team and not the individual.”

The length of Saka’s injury will come as a significant blow to Arteta, who is bidding to oversee Arsenal’s first Premier League title in two decades.

In Saka’s absence, and in the Gunners’ final fixture of 2024, Kai Havertz scored the game’s sole goal midway through the opening period.

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Gabriel, Havertz and Martin Odegaard all spurned chances to increase Arsenal’s lead in the second period, but their victory takes them back to within six points of leaders Liverpool – having played one match more than the Reds – and a point clear of Chelsea following their Boxing Day defeat to Fulham.

Arteta continued: “I am very happy with the victory and the clean sheet and big parts of the game. They are difficult opposition and we are playing so many games.

“You see that teams are winning from small margins. Today we could have made that margin bigger but we didn’t and we held our nerve in the last few minutes to defend well.

“We should have scored more. We had big openings in the second half, the big header of Gabriel from one yard, but the team was consistent and conceded nothing and that is something that will always give us the chance to win games.”

Arsenal will next be in action against Brentford on New Year’s Day. Ipswich, who remain second from bottom, three points away from safety, host Chelsea on Monday night.

Ipswich suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat at home to Newcastle in the fixture which preceded their trip to the Emirates, and this marked their fifth loss from six games.

“It was a good step back in the right direction for us,” said boss Kieran McKenna. “We didn’t hit our levels against Newcastle. We knew today we had to be resilient and we did that.”

Written by Press Association and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.