Bukayo Saka sparked major injury concerns moments after scoring for England in a World Cup qualifier against Serbia. The Arsenal winger was captured hobbling by ITV cameras before he made a concerning gesture to the bench which suggested he needed to be substituted.
However, Saka appeared to be moving much better in the following few minutes before heading over to the dugout at a break in play to change his boots which appeared to be the reason for his gesture.
Nonetheless, given his history of injury problems, there will be understandable concerns that he has at the very least picked up a knock. Mikel Arteta will be hoping it is nothing serious, though.
The Gunners boss has had Saka available for the last few months after losing him to a hamstring issue during the first part of the season. Goals and assists have been hard to come by since he returned but the 24-year-old netted in the 2-2 draw against Sunderland this past weekend.
Injuries have plagued Arsenal this season but impressive squad depth has helped Arteta and Co. deal with key absences. Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres are among the players to have missed games.
Riccardo Calafiori is the latest to have handed Arteta an injury worry with the versatile defender missing from Italy's squad to face Moldova on Thursday evening. That has not come as a surprise though, with the 23-year-old following a separate training programme this week because of a hip problem.
It seems to just be a minor issue for Calafiori with Arteta likely hopeful he can feature in the North London Derby against Tottenham after the November international break.
Four returning stars could also be in the matchday squad for that derby with Arteta having stated that one of Madueke, Odegaard, Martinelli or Gyokeres could have even returned against Sunderland.
"I cannot confirm all of [them are out vs Sunderland], but you are not far off," he said at a press conference. "Some of them, all of them, [could be available after the break], I don't know. There are a lot of things that have to happen in the next two weeks, and everything has to be perfect, but I think we'll be very close."
There was some consideration to help one or two of the senior players step up their rehab by featuring for Arsenal under-21s in the EFL Trophy clash against Cardiff City, however that route was not taken.
Having undergone surgery, Havertz is a little bit further back in his recovery though is pushing to return ahead of the busy Christmas schedule.
Arteta said of the Germany international: "Let’s see how he absorbs the load first when he starts to train with us, and when he’s done that, obviously we’re going to have to, especially in the first few weeks, keep an eye on him to manage the amount of minutes and when we play him."
