In the 24th minute of Arsenal’s emphatic victory against Crystal Palace, the Gunners’ talismanic winger, Bukayo Saka, pulled up short with a hamstring injury and had to be substituted for Leandro Trossard.
That substitution forced head coach, Mikel Arteta, to deploy Gabriel Martinelli on the right flank, while the incoming substitute, Trossard, played from the left flank.
The Gunners ran out as 5-1 winners with a Gabriel Jesus brace, Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, which was amazing on the night, but Arteta’s men are set to go into a grueling Fixture schedule with the unavailability of arguably their best player, Saka.
In today’s article, we will review the forwards that can fill in for Saka while he’s on the sidelines.
Raheem Sterling
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The on-loan Chelsea winger was signed on transfer deadline day as Saka’s primary backup, following the departure of Reiss Nelson to Fulham.
Bar the solitary goal against Bournemouth, Sterling hasn’t lit up any fireworks, even though he had a stormer in the Carabao Cup quarterfinal against Crystal Palace and missed a sitter.
Sterling was set to benefit from Saka’s absence on the short term, but unfortunately, he’s also injured.
Gabriel Jesus
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The Brazilian forward has been on some sort of resurgence in recent weeks, scoring five goals in his last two games. However, these goals came from the center forward position, which has been occupied by Kai Havertz for a considerable chunk of the season.
Jesus is adept playing on the right wing from his Manchester City days, and has even deputized in the position when Saka got injured early in the season. However, playing Jesus from the right wing will be detrimental to his progress from the middle of the park.
Gabriel Martinelli
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The Brazilian winger was drafted to the right wing following Saka’s Injury and played very well there. He looks to be the short term beneficiary with the absences of Saka and Sterling in that flank and one would be curious to see how he jives with Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber.
