20 October 2023 , 09:18
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Mikel Arteta kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the fitness of William Saliba and Bukayo Saka ahead of Arsenal ’s game against Chelsea.
The Gunners travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday as the Premier League returns after the international break. Arteta’s side are hoping to continue their momentum following the 1-0 win over Manchester City two weeks ago, which left them unbeaten and joint top of the table.
The short trip across London has been made tougher by a resurgence in form of Chelsea, who have won their past two games, and injury concerns. Saliba and Saka withdrew from the France and England squads over the international break due to injury and Arteta refused to be drawn on their status in his press conference on Friday morning.
Asked if Saliba's toe injury is serious, he replied: “Hopefully not. He’s been carrying that for weeks now. We had to use that time to settle and we believed it was the best moment to do that.” Arteta said he would know more about the availability of his players for the 5.30pm kick-off on Saturday after Friday’s training session.
Saka missed the win over City, failing to appear in an Arsenal game in the Premier League for the first time since May 2021. He hobbled out of the preceding three matches, leaving Gunners fans concerned about potential burnout of the 22-year-old.
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Asked about his workload, Arteta said: “Yeah, it’s our responsibility to monitor them. It’s also about the relationship to the data and the way they train. Sometimes we want to play them but when we have them three hours on the field in training it doesn't help. If you want to be a top, top player you have to play every three days and play 65-70 games.”
Bukayo Saka has struggled with injuries recently (Getty Images)He added: “We have to play him when we see him in the right condition mentally and physically. He needs to be performing as well.”
Asked if Saka wants to play against Chelsea, Arteta said: “I’m sure he wants to play, yes. I don’t see any player there that doesn’t want to be in the starting XI.”
He added: “Obviously we had injuries and we had the availability that we had. I’m sure that we’ll get them back. It’s about being able to win and perform in the right way.”
Saka was deemed not fit enough for England’s games against Australia and Italy due to the thigh, Achilles and hamstring issues he’s had over recent weeks. Arteta had previously raised hopes by claiming Saka was “in contention” to play against City, only to leave him out of the squad altogether.