Arsenal wait on Saka tendon check

Arsenal know one thing and not the other. Bukayo Saka will miss the trip to Liverpool; beyond that, Mikel Arteta is still waiting to learn whether the quad injury reaches the tendon, and how seriously.

That distinction matters. A muscle problem can be managed on one timeline, tendon involvement on another, and Arsenal are not pretending to know which contest they are in until the scans settle the point. Arteta said the club needed another look at how the fluid was resolving and whether “the tendon is touched and how badly it is touched”, adding that the player feels much better and is pushing to return quickly.

Managers often talk around injuries because they must. This was more specific than that, but not a diagnosis. The useful fact is the uncertainty itself: Arsenal are still in the assessment stage, which makes any firm return date guesswork dressed up as confidence.

Competitively, that leaves Arsenal without their most reliable wide outlet for a major away test, and it sharpens the pressure on the alternatives. Daily Cannon also reported further selection concerns around Noni Madueke, while Max Dowman is suspended. There is at least one possible release valve, with Christos Tzolis back in training and available to expand Arteta’s options.

Arteta was similarly cautious when asked about Saka’s involvement with England, saying only that it looked unlikely but that more would be known after further checks.

For now, Arsenal have lost the immediate battle and are waiting on the verdict that shapes the next few weeks. The danger for them is not only the absence at Liverpool. It is that a problem first described as a quad injury may yet prove more awkward than that.