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Mikel Arteta is “very concerned”. Bukayo Saka after England the winger was sent off in the 24th minute as Arsenal made it 5-1 Crystal Palace.
Saka was filmed walking away from Selhurst Park on crutches, spoiling what was a comprehensive second win over the Eagles in four days after Gabriel Jesus secured a hat-trick Arsenal through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Jesus scored twice this time, either side of Ismaila Sarr’s strike in a thrilling first 15 minutes, while Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and the returning Declan Rice also found the net as the Gunners moved within three points of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
But the focus after the match was on Saka.
“He felt something in his hamstring,” Arteta said. “He couldn’t go on. He’s going to have to be evaluated, so I’m pretty worried about that.
“It is very difficult (to give a forecast) now. They tested it internally, but it’s very hard to tell how bad it is.
“We lost Raheem (Sterling) yesterday, we don’t even know how long, so to lose two players in 24 hours is not good.
“Unfortunately, with the amount of games we play, every three days with this schedule, it doesn’t surprise me, but the team will react to it.”
Jesus, who was in the starting line-up, has now scored seven goals this year, five of which came in the last 72 hours against Palace.
“That’s the beauty of football,” Arteta said. “Things are changing. I think he has scored as much in 45 appearances and now in two days, almost three days.
“He scored five goals and today he could have scored a hat-trick again. A great honor to him, because he invested so much effort, so much belief in what he was doing, he was patient and rewarded.”
Liverpool have two games in hand over Arteta’s side, the first against Tottenham on Sunday, while second-placed Chelsea have a point more and have played one game less than the Gunners.
Asked what the difference was between Saturday’s trip to south London and last week’s goalless draw with Everton, Arteta replied: “If we were clinical today. I think we were better in many things the other day, but this is football.
“We were so clinical today, we were so good at scoring at different stages as we want and we didn’t concede more realistically because David (Raya) had two great saves as well and we have to be honest about that.”