Bukayo Saka has a “good chance” to play against Crystal Palace tomorrow night despite suffering an ankle injury against Ipswich on Sunday.
Saka was taken off in the second half of the 4-0 win at Portman Road after being on the end of a nasty challenge earlier in the game from Ipswich full-back Leif Davis, for which he earned a red card.
The England winger has only just returned from a long-term hamstring problem and boss Mikel Arteta is confident Saka has sustained no major damage.
“We have to wait and see how he reacts after the session but he is nothing too serious. I think he will have a good chance to play tomorrow,” said Arteta, who also confirmed midfielder Jorginho is out for “a few weeks” while Riccardo Calafiori won’t be fit in time for Palace.
Crystal Palace classics 🎞
Relive some of our previous encounters in N5 through images 👇🧵 pic.twitter.com/VkDjwZT7n9
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 22, 2025
No thought of resting Saka
Arteta also dismissed the idea of resting Saka with one eye on next Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final, first leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
He added: “We cannot think in those terms. When the players are fit and available and want to play, they have to play. They are at their best when they are playing and they have consistency in their performances and physically and emotionally they are good. They have the rhythm and that is when they are at their best.
“If they are not available, there is no discussion. If they are not in a good condition to perform we are not going to play them. But if they are we will play them.”
Welcome break before PSG clash
Arsenal don’t have a game this weekend with PSG their next opponents.
And Arteta admitted he welcomed the break to prepare for the clash with Luis Enrique’s men. He said: “We have more days, [but] the amount of options we have is not that many, especially because of where the players are coming and the amount of minutes they can play. It’s good to have a little gap because we are really short in numbers.
“It is what we have, let’s take the opportunity first of all. Earn the right to win the game tomorrow against a really good side, they have a really good record away from home as well and after that we have time to prepare the [PSG] game really well.”
Arsenal remain the closest challengers to Liverpool but defeat to Palace will mean the Merseysiders are crowned champions.
“Our incentive is to win our game and to do our best to continue with our run that we are in right now, the rest we cannot control,” said Arteta.
