By Ben Dinnery

2nd Dec, 2021 | 11:04am

Injury expert issues 'long-term' claim after what he's 'spotted' from Saka at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta will look to the long-term when he decides whether to risk Bukayo Saka for Arsenal against Man United tonight (2 December).

So says injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.

Saka, who scored 10 minutes earlier, was taken off 25 minutes from time in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United last Saturday (27 November).

As quoted by the Evening Standard on Wednesday (1 December), manager Arteta revealed: “We have doubt with Bukayo”.

Dinnery claimed that the winger’s body language gives some idea of the nature of his injury and that Arteta may not want to risk him.

“There wasn’t anything obvious in terms of mechanism of injury,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.

“But I did spot that he pointed and indicated towards his upper thigh, maybe lower abdominals or hip flexor.

“He tried to continue but Arteta says that it wasn’t possible. But that he tried to run it off and give us some insight to say that it isn’t anything too serious.

“Hopefully, that withdrawal was a precautionary measure. He has a good amount of recovery time.

“The worry and concern for me is that nothing is black and white when it comes to injuries.

“The decision with regards to whether he plays or not, that will be taken with a long-term view.

“So it might be the best course of action to leave him out if there are any concerns at all.”

Saka has registered three goals and two assists in two 15 appearances across all competitions this season.

Arsenal will move into the top four with victory over United at Old Trafford.

In other news, Arsenal tipped to sign “powerhouse” as Renato Sanches reveals stance on move.