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Bukayo Saka suffered great danger of injury after being forced to leave the course Arsenal 5-1 win against Crystal Palace.
The England winger was left in a lot of pain after a heavy collision before being replaced by Leandro Trossard just 23 minutes into the game. The 23-year-old was seen sitting on the Selhurst Park lawn holding the back of his right leg.
After the game, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta gave an update on Saka’s condition, saying it was “not good news” but that it was too early to tell how serious the injury was.
In an interview with Sky Sports after the match, Arteta said: “I don’t know [how serious the injury is] but he had to go. He felt something, it was obviously not good news. We have to evaluate him and wait.”
The manager then added that Saka’s substitution was a ‘precautionary measure’ when speaking to the BBC’s Match of the Day programme.
Of he suffered a similar injury earlier in the season while playing for England in their defeat to Greece in October. The injury ended up sidelining him for more than a month, missing a total of nine games.
And now another setback puts Saka in doubt for Arsenal’s clash with Ipswich Town on December 27, with Brentford next up on New Year’s Day.
The Gunners face Brighton just three days after taking on the Bees, meaning Saka could miss more games.
“He put his hand up immediately,” said Sky Sports co-commentator Jamie Carragher. “I know he’s been made fun of a little bit sometimes for stooping too low. But it looks like a problem.
“He will only be a problem for Arsenal if he is serious. It looked like his hamstring when he tried to cross the center and it locked up.”
Arsenal took care of business without their talisman though, thanks to a brace from Gabriel Jesus, his fourth and fifth goals of the week following a hat-trick against the Eagles in the Carabao Cup, with Kai Havertz also on the scoresheet.
Arteta’s side were three clear in the second half after Gabriel Martinelli struck before long-range Declan Rice made it five later, closing the gap on leaders Liverpool to three points with two games to spare.