Arsenal are off until a week from next Tuesday, when they’ll welcome in Fulham for a London derby. The Gunners will look to get back into the Premier League title race, but at this point, its basically donezo. Liverpool FC would have to totally fall off a cliff for Arsenal to get back into the race now. But between now and that match, we can go over the latest in Gunners injury updates. Today we’ll spotlight Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Bukayo Saka
This guy is the key right here, if anybody can try and save their season, albeit the long odds they face, it’s Saka. He could feature, maybe in a cameo, against Fulham and/or Everton four days later. The main goal is to have him ready for April 8, vs Real Madrid in the Champions League.
“He is going to be here [at the Arsenal training ground], hopefully more with ball at his feet than he has had,” manager Mikel Arteta said of Saka ahead of the 1-0 win over Chelsea last weekend.
“That will mean he is passing the ball and shooting and running and everything. He has done quite a lot already on the pitch working on his own….”
Arteta continued, regarding Saka
“…He’s getting closer, he’s stepping up and making a very good progress I would say. So, let’s see when we start to throw him in with the team, how he reacts and how fit he can get quickly.”
Gabriel Jesus
Done for the year, suffered a torn ACL in the FA Cup loss to Manchester United back in January.
Kai Havertz
Done for the year, suffered a severe hamstring injury during the mid-winter warm weather training session in Dubai.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
The poor guy has become for Arsenal what Luke Shaw is to Manchester United- pretty much never healthy enough to play. It has been another miserable season, fitness wise for the Japanese defender, who has only played six minutes all season long.
His timeline for return remains unknown, as he continues recovering from knee surgery.
International Break Injury Updates
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Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.