Bukayo Saka will miss Arsenal's Carabao Cup tie at Fleetwood Town and at least three more games after suffering a quad injury. The winger was forced off inside ten minutes of last week's 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich, where Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice were on the scoresheet.
Goal reported the extent of the injury, stating, "I think it will be weeks, the extent of the injury and that the scans would be repeated in a week, ten days." This rules Saka out of Tuesday's cup match, the weekend's Premier League trip to Liverpool, and games either side of the November international break.
Mikel Arteta is expected to rotate his squad heavily for the trip to Highbury Stadium. The predicted lineup features Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, with a back four of Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel Magalhães and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The midfield trio is set to be Mikel Merino, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, with Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Max Dowman in attack. Dowman scored twice in the previous round against Ipswich. William Saliba is out with a back injury, while Riccardo Calafiori is managing a hip problem.
The injury comes as Arsenal sit second in the Premier League with 21 points from eight games, having won seven and lost one. They have scored 13 goals and conceded only five this season. Their recent form is strong, with four wins and a draw in their last five matches. They beat Everton 2-0 last time out, with goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhães, following a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest and a 3-0 victory over Lille. Their next league game is a major test away to fourth-placed Liverpool on Sunday 1 November.
This is the first competitive meeting between the clubs. Fleetwood, 18th in League Two, have reached this stage with three consecutive home wins in the competition. They have Rhys Bennett back from suspension and Crispin McLean returning from injury. Arsenal's focus will be on handling this tie and progressing without their top scorer, Bukayo Saka, who has three goals this season. The match kicks off at 8pm UK time on Tuesday and is live on Sky Sports.
