Arsenal host Everton on Saturday evening at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League, and Charlie Austin believes Mikel Arteta must make a brave team selection decision for the clash, regarding Bukayo Saka.
Kai Havertz’s late penalty salvaged a draw for the Gunners in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night. Arteta’s side weren’t at their best in Western Germany, although they returned to North London in a strong position in the tie and with their quadruple chances still intact.
Saka was heavily criticised for his performance at the BayArena, and Austin has now called for Arteta to drop the winger to the bench for the visit of the Toffees.
Charlie Austin says Bukayo Saka should be dropped for Everton clash
Saka has scored nine goals and registered five assists across all competitions for Arsenal this season – a tally he’ll certainly be disappointed with given his high standards. That said, his performance levels have generally remained high, and the underlying metrics indicate that he’s somewhat unlucky not to have produced much greater output.
The wide forward has, however, found it difficult to deliver consistent performances every three days, with the impact of his major injury from last season still clearly hindering him. Having signed a lucrative new contract last month, Arsenal fans have every right to expect more from their talisman moving forward.
Noni Madueke was signed for a reason, though. The former Chelsea man was added to Arteta’s squad to come in for Saka when the starboy is flagging, and former Southampton striker Austin believes the Spanish manager should call upon this option this weekend.
| Saka vs Bayer Leverkusen Statistics | |
| Minutes Played | 60 |
| Shots | 1 |
| Expected Goals | 0.02 |
| Accurate Passes | 16/19 (84%) |
| Touches in Opposition Box | 4 |
| Touches | 37 |
| Key Passes | 0 |
| Successful Dribbles | 1/3 (33%) |
“When he’s [Madueke] come on, the performances he’s been putting in warrant starting,” he said live on Sky Sports.
“But the issue he has is the fact that Arsenal’s Starboy plays in the same position as him. It’s going to take the manager to make a brave decision to make that change.
“If I’m Noni Madueke, I’m asking that question, ‘What more can I do?’ Because when he came on, he changed the game in Arsenal’s favour.
“He got on the ball, ran at defenders and made things happen. In the time Saka was on the pitch, he didn’t.”
Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke have been rotating all season
Arsenal clearly felt that Saka’s fitness and ability to rediscover his most explosive form were going to be issues this season, and thus, they invested £52 million in Madueke to protect themselves from these problems.
While both players have been fit, they have regularly rotated, with the Gunners generally not using Saka from the start three times a week. Since the start of 2026, when both players have been available, Madueke has started against Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest, Kairat Almaty, Brentford, Wigan, Wolves and Mansfield.
| Bukayo Saka’s statistics this season (all competitions) | |
| Appearances | 39 |
| Goals | 9 |
| Assists | 5 |
| Shots per 90 | 2.78 |
| Expected Goals per 90 (non-penalty) | 0.29 |
| Expected Assists per 90 | 0.27 |
Thus, it’s natural that he’d come in for Saka against Everton, with the Leverkusen second leg and the Manchester City Carabao Cup final to come next week. While many portions of the media may label this as Saka being ‘dropped’, it’ll merely be a continuation of the rotation that has occurred throughout the entire campaign.
Arsenal’s main man needs to freshen up and be ready for the tough tasks that lie ahead, and Madueke enables him to do this.
