20-year-old Bukayo Saka was unable to complete 90 minutes and had to be replaced by Maitland-Niles.
A little about the topic
The Gunners received a potential injury hit on Saturday when an England player was unable to end his team’s clash with Brighton. Arsenal have drawn 0-0 on the south coast to cement their recovery from a terrible start to the 2021-22 season. But both they and England could count the cost of the knock suffered by their No.7 in the final minutes at the Amex Stadium.
What did Arteta say about Bukayo Saka?
Bukayo Saka climbed over time almost to the top in Saturday’s match after getting tangled up with a Brighton player. The 20-year-old appeared to be somewhat uncomfortable and Arteta’s manager decided to withdraw him from the promotion, with Maitland-Niles in his place. After the game, Arteta’s manager moved to allay concerns about his fitness. Mikel Arteta told reporters at a post-match press conference that Bukayo Saka should be fine. Saka got a knock, but should be fine.
England will worry about Saka’s condition
Ashley Maitland-Niles had little time to turn the game around as Brighton had to settle for a goalless draw against Arsenal despite a late free appeal. That result leaves Seagulls in fifth place, having a chance to reach the joint-top with a victory; while the Gunners sit ninth after seven games. Arsenal was ultimately grateful for the intervention of Ramsdale, who made an acrobatic clearance to deny Maupay an easy chance in front of the net with only a few minutes left to play.
Now they will look forward to good news on Bukayo Saka, although England will be more immediately concerned about his condition. The next week brings the final international window, with the Gunners only returning to action on October 18th at home in Crystal Palace.
England, meanwhile, has two World Cup qualifiers in October, against Hungary and Andorra, as they seek to cement their position at the top of Group I and potentially clinch qualifications if other results go their way.