ISAAN KHAN: Give the boy a break! Bukayo Saka is now a major doubt for  Arsenal’s crunch clash with Man City after limping off in Lens… he’s been Mikel Arteta’s undroppable force this season, but it’s starting to take its toll

• Bukayo Saka limped off with a muscular issue against Lens on Tuesday night 
• Arsenal’s star man is now a major doubt to face champions Man City on Sunday 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ 

Bukayo Saka had looked to the turf, clutched his thigh and slowly ambled off once again on Tuesday night. It has become a familiar sight, a routine even.

Yet after Arsenal’s chastening defeat to Lens, Mikel Arteta spoke with concern. This was not just a ‘knock’. But a muscular issue, after a knock last weekend, and another the weekend before.

Arteta said: ‘He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and felt something muscular.

‘It was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that’s a worry for us.

‘I have no clue (if he can make this weekend).’

Arsenal’s star man Bukayo Saka is a huge doubt to face champions Manchester City on Sunday

Saka limped off after hitting the turf during Arsenal’s Champions League 2-1 defeat by Lens

He is now a doubt for Sunday’s match against Manchester City, the Gunners’ biggest afternoon this season thus far.

Arsenal’s league record with and without Saka 

With Saka (since 2020-21)

Starts: 110 starts

Win rate: 60%

Points per game: 1.9

Goals per 90: 1.8

Passes into the final third: 61.3

Without Saka (since 2020-21)

Starts: 11

Win rate: 46%

Points per game: 1.5

Goals per 90: 1.5

Passes into the final third: 50.9

A victory, depending on how Spurs fare against Luton Town with goal difference a factor, could see the north London club usurp City to top of the table.

It would be a significant statement, and one made measurably more possible with Saka on the pitch.

With hindsight, whether or whether not the winger should have started against Lens does come into the frame after the lumps and bruises he endured in the days prior for both Arsenal and England; the hacks received by Ukraine’s backline early in September can’t be forgotten, either.

But in fairness to Arteta, Saka was rested last Wednesday against Brentford in the Carabao Cup.

And when you have such a talent within one’s ranks, pragmatism can easily wane in favour of results.

Take the last three games Saka has played in. Against Tottenham, his strike deflecting off Cristian Romero gave Arsenal the lead before he doubled it with a second-half penalty.

Facing Bournemouth, he scored a tap-in and caused the backline a headache with his darting runs before trudging off in the 76th minute in pain.

And then on Tuesday night, his pass resulted in Gabriel Jesus’s opener against Lens, and it’s fair to say the Gunners looked worse for his enforced departure on 34 minutes.

It’s a double-pronged dilemma: he needs the rest after receiving brutal knocks from opposition week-to-week, owing to how difficult is to stop him on that right flank, but when he plays, he produces — nearly every time.

Mikel Arteta has continually started the England international on the right wing for Arsenal

Manchester City travel to the Emirates this weekend for a pivotal clash with their title rivals

Across all competitions, he has the second highest number of shots (21) and shots on target (10) in his team — only Martin Odegaard bettering him by one and three respectively.

For chances created, Saka leads the way with 26. That eclipses the 12 produced by captain Odegaard, who is in second.

There is no doubt as to how crucial he is to this side.

Though, Arteta’s reliance on the 22-year-old is not too dissimilar to other clubs who rely on their own star man. Of the league’s 20 teams, aside from goalkeepers, six have a player who has played more than Saka’s 807 minutes across all competitions so far.

They include Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa (930 minutes), Arsenal centre back William Saliba (900 minutes) and Man City right back Kyle Walker (899 minutes).

A heavy workload is not uncommon. Though where Saka is different is wear-and-tear.

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Saka has started 110 Premier League matches for Arsenal out of 121 since the 2020-21 season

Arteta admitted he had ‘no clue’ whether the winger would be fit and available for Sunday

As Mail Sport reported last month, he has been nagged by an Achilles issue that affected him last season.

The winger’s steely character also means he would never tell his manager he can’t play, even if his ability to perform is compromised by injury.

How the Spaniard and Arsenal cope without their ‘starboy’, if he is out on the sidelines, could very well dictate Arsenal’s fortunes in the coming weeks.

But what is certain is that if Saka can merely run by the time Sunday afternoon arrives, Arteta will be peering in his direction.

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

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