At a Glance:
- Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was unavailable against Manchester City.
- Mikel Arteta missed Saka’s teammate even more at the Etihad Stadium.
- Pep Guardiola took advantage of Arsenal missing one of their key men.
Mikel Arteta would have rued Bukayo Saka’s injury-enforced absence as Arsenal missed a match-winner in their ranks during their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.
On the other hand, Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland showcased why they are considered some of the standout difference-makers in the Premier League as they stepped up and scored two excellent goals.
Saka has sustained an Achilles problem and unless he is fit and firing, some may argue that Arsenal’s chances of winning the league this season can already be considered dead and buried.
However, in their latest defeat against Manchester City, Mikel Arteta missed one of his key players even more than the England international.
- READ MORE: Mikel Arteta must really regret his 74th minute decision vs Man City that may have cost Arsenal
Man City exposed Arsenal during Jurrien Timber absence
The name in question is Jurrien Timber, whose replacement Christhian Mosquera struggled against Jeremy Doku as he was torn to shreds when trying to contain the Belgian.
Timber, however, has cemented his reputation as one of Europe’s most defensively sound right-backs and he would have fancied the tall of task of keeping Doku quiet on Sunday.
Haaland’s eventual winner came down Mosquera’s side as he was bypassed by the winger, who went on to find Nico O’Reilly in the box who eventually assisted the City number nine’s well-taken strike.
Surprisingly, both Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli later did not provide much support to their right-back and as a result, let Doku run riot and the statistics demonstrate how effective the Premier League winner was.
| Jeremy Doku stats vs Arsenal | |
| Dribbles completed | 3 |
| Chances created | 1 |
| Touches in opposition box | 6 |
| Duels won | 10 |
Sure, Saka could have had an impact in the final third if he was fit to play against Manchester City but considering Arsenal’s specialty lies at the back, Timber’s absence really impacted them on the day. Mosquera recently impressed against Sporting CP but ultimately, he is a centre-back by trade.
As for Ben White, he also struggled against Doku in the Carabao Cup final while mistiming a headed clearance to gift Ross Stewart a goal and failing to track Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert before Eli Kroupi’s strike.
Mikel Arteta on Jurrien Timber’s injury status
Before Arsenal’s trip to the Etihad Stadium, Mikel Arteta commented on Timber’s fitness alongside Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori by claiming all the players in question were close to returning to pitch.
“Some players are quite close. We will try tomorrow to push everybody.”
Considering Odegaard returned to Arsenal’s starting XI, the signs suggest that Timber could return to action sooner rather than later.
