Arsenal will be without Bukayo Saka for Sunday’s Premier League match against Manchester City, a fresh blow for Mikel Arteta before a game that could shape the title race. Arteta said on Friday that Saka is out as the club heads to the Etihad.
The manager said Saka has not recovered from an Achilles problem that has kept him out since the 2-0 Carabao Cup final defeat by City on March 22. He also missed losses to Southampton and Bournemouth, as well as both legs of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final against Sporting CP. Before the second leg, Arteta said he hoped the winger could return in days not weeks, but on Friday he was more direct: Saka is not available, though he has begun doing some work again.
That absence matters because Arsenal go into the weekend six points clear of City, who have a game in hand. Arsenal have not won the Premier League title in 22 years, and Saka has been central to their push, with nine goals and seven assists in all competitions this season. He withdrew from the England squad in March because of the injury, adding to a run of fitness setbacks that has already included a torn hamstring in December 2024 that required surgery and cost him 101 days, before he returned on April 1, 2025, and then another hamstring issue in August 2025 that sidelined him for three games.
Arteta said a late decision will be made on Noni Madueke, who was forced off in the second half of Wednesday’s draw with Sporting. The manager said he was hopeful Madueke could be available, and also suggested 16-year-old Max Dowman could be in line to start on the right if Arsenal need another option. That would be a major test for a teenager in a match Arsenal can ill afford to misjudge, but it is the injury list, not the opponent, that is again shaping Arteta’s team sheet.
