The legendary ’90s sitcom Seinfeld made Dec. 23rd a part of the pop culture lexicon as that’s the date of Festivus, a fictional holiday created by George Costanza’s Dad. Dec. 23 “the Festivus for the rest of us,” but it was anything but festive for the Gooners. That was the day Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the following about fantastic forward Bukayo Saka and his thigh injury: ‘It’s not looking good. He’s going to be out for many weeks.”
Yes, Saka is going to miss a couple months, maybe more, starting with the Boxing Day clash versus Ipswich Town.
Boxing Day FYIs
Arsenal vs Ipswich Town
Kick Off: Fri. Dec 27, 2024, 8:15pm UK Emirates Stadium, London, UK
Arsenal Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Google Result Probability: Arsenal 85% Draw `10% Ipswich Town 5%
PL Position, Form Guide: Arsenal 3rd, 33 pts WWDDW Ipswich Town 19th, 12 pts LLLWL
Gunners Team News
Obviously being without Saka, for an extended period of time, throws a major monkey wrench into the North Londoners Premier League title charge. And while Saka is the headliner here, we have other team news to cover as well. Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain out indefinitely, with knee injuries and now Raheem Sterling has joined them in this category.
“He is going to be out for weeks,” Arteta said of Sterling. “He needs further testing tomorrow to understand the extent of his injury.
“It’s his knee.”
Finally, Oleksandr Zinchenko could come back into the team on Friday. Said Arteta: “Zinchenko could probably be available as well.”
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.