Arteta gives Saka injury update and defends selecting Arsenal star

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Mikel Arteta has supported his choice to involve Bukayo Saka in the Arsenal match, despite the player leaving the pitch due to injury during their loss to Lens in the Champions League.

The Arsenal team scored first with a goal from Gabriel Jesus, but Adrien Thomasson tied the game after David Raya made a mistake. Unfortunately, Saka had to leave the match due to an injury.

Lens managed to secure a 2-1 victory, with Elye Wahi scoring the winning goal in the second half. However, what would have worried Arteta the most was Saka's injury.

Manchester City, who currently hold the Premier League title, will be paying a visit to the Emirates Stadium within the next five days. However, there is uncertainty surrounding Saka's participation in the game due to him being unable to complete the last three matches as an England striker.

When Arteta was asked if he felt bad about choosing Saka knowing about his problems during the Tottenham and Bournemouth matches, he answered that he did not. Saka had recently suffered a minor injury, but he had healed up well. The injury occurred during a play where Saka used a back-heel technique, which can sometimes cause that type of issue.

“Let’s determine the scope of the situation before it's too late. The previous instances were only minor impacts rather than significant issues.”

He has hardly skipped any games. We rested him for one game against Brentford (in the Carabao Cup) last week, but that's all.

During the first half of the game, he attempted to backheel the ball but experienced a muscle-related sensation. It caused him discomfort and made it impossible for him to continue. Consequently, we were compelled to substitute him.

We are still uninformed about the matter. The magnitude of the issue restrained him from continuing with the game which concerns us.

The player was extremely excited to compete, just like every other athlete. The upcoming Champions League match was of great significance. I described the situation to them and they all were aware of what to expect. It was like painting a picture of what was to come.

"It is quite challenging to emerge victorious in the Champions League while playing away from one's home ground. Today's game taught us a valuable lesson."

Arsenal had a pretty bad day when they lost their match. It was part of a rough 24 hours for the team, as they were stuck at Luton airport due to bad weather for five hours on Monday. This delay caused them to be late to France.

Their aspirations of smoothly progressing to the knockout rounds have been dented by a tumultuous evening at the dynamic Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Arteta refused to make any excuses when questioned about whether the team's poor performance was due to inadequate preparation for the game.

Firstly, I want to extend my congratulations to Lens for their victory. They are an exceptional team, perfectly coached, and we were well aware that we were in for a difficult match.

We missed about four or five opportunities to score and we didn't protect our own boxes well enough.

Indeed, there were times during the latter half of the game when we encountered difficulties in creating opportunities and locating gaps in the opponent's defense that we could exploit.

"They did an excellent job defending with their numbers. This is a valuable lesson to remember for the upcoming game."

Lens began the season at a sluggish pace, but they managed to win their last two matches in Ligue 1 before their first home game in the Champions League in over two decades. Defender Kevin Danso expressed his joy over the result.

He stated that we put in maximum effort today in front of our supporters.

The match was challenging as Arsenal displayed superior skills that forced us to take a defensive stance. However, we maintained our focus and defended well throughout the game, ultimately resulting in our victory.

We are aware of our power when we play in front of our supporters. Our goal is always to emerge victorious when playing at home. Although I'm a little disappointed about not maintaining a clean sheet, we are satisfied with earning three points for sure.