The season is just two weeks old, and Arsenal already find themselves facing an injury crisis — but with the tools to plug the gaps.
The Gunners on Wednesday confirmed that Kai Havertz is out for an unspecified period with a knee injury picked up against Manchester United last weekend.
The news had only just been properly digested ahead of the 5-0 thumping of Leeds United on Saturday, before two further seismic blows.
Bukayo Saka, who scored on the stroke of half-time, hobbled off in the second half clutching his left hamstring. The winger was side-lined for three-and-a-half months last season after tearing his right hamstring in December, before returning on April 1.
While Martin Odegaard fell awkwardly on his shoulder and was replaced by Ethan Nwaneri on 38 minutes. The captain missed 12 matches in the previous campaign with an ankle injury sustained in September.
It was the semantics Mikel Arteta used around Saka, saying his injury looks ‘significant’, which appeared the most concerning.
Bukayo Saka suffered an injury during Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Leeds United on Saturday
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard also came off with an injury, seemingly in his right shoulder
The winger is an integral piece of Arteta’s jigsaw, with much of the Gunners’ play often coming down that right flank.
Yet their frontline, despite the injuries, can cope. There is enough artillery in reserve to navigate the next few weeks without diminishing returns.
Gabriel Martinelli was dropped for Noni Madueke, a move that had already seemed on the cards despite Arteta’s clear liking of the Brazilian.
He has stood by him despite often struggling to make a real impact in the final third. Of last season’s 38 league matches, Martinelli started on the bench just twice. It reflects his standing in the team.
Madueke’s end product on Saturday could have been better, though there was a clear directness in his darts forward, attacking the opposition without fear, which has often been missing on that left side with Martinelli.
He can play on both flanks, so is a viable option for either while Saka is side-lined.
If Madueke is shifted to the right, new signing Eberechi Eze would be the perfect choice to slot in on the left.
The £67.5 million man was unveiled to a standing ovation ahead of kick-off. What a baptism of fire it’d be to make his Gunners debut against Liverpool next Sunday, yet his talents belong on such a stage.
Those two blows mean Mikel Arteta is facing another injury crisis – but this time he is prepared
Arsenal presented new signing Eberechi Eze ahead of kick-off at the Emirates on Saturday
Eze could also play as central attacking midfield in place of Odegaard.
Both Eze and Madueke are the key contenders for these positions, and that’s before taking into account Martinelli — who has a point to prove — and Leandro Trossard.
Trossard, who this week agreed a new deal which still keeps him at the club until 2027 but on better terms, has often been the man to step up in previous seasons when given a chance.
After featuring on the bench against Leeds, he could fill in on the left to facilitate those moves for the other two.
If Arteta chooses to play Eze on the left and Madueke on the right, Ethan Nwaneri would be eyeing up Odegaard’s spot.
Dowman danced around the Leeds players at will, before winning a penalty in the dying minutes which Viktor Gyokeres converted. It left Arteta purring afterwards.
‘Well, this is what we say every single day in training,’ he said.
‘Credit to all the coaches involved in that journey. Because there is a kid here that has zero hesitation. He’s so convinced that he can go at 15 and deliver that, which I’ve never witnessed in my life. And for us, it brings joy, it brings emotion and something else that makes our jobs so great.’
Fellow new signing Viktor Gyokeres scored his first two Premier League goals against Leeds
He is a special, special talent who has some career ahead of him.
Overall, the options at Arteta’s disposal make the injuries to Saka and Odegaard navigable.
Spending £250m does that — and it reflects a huge difference to last season already, by which those two players hitting the sidelines all badly affected their title fortunes.
This time around, that should not be the case.