Arsenal suffered a late injury setback before their Premier League match against Leeds United as Bukayo Saka was forced out of the starting lineup. The 24-year-old winger, who was set to captain the side at Elland Road, pulled up during the warm-up and was replaced by Noni Madueke. Gabriel Magalhaes took the armband, with Christian Norgaard promoted to the bench.
Manager Mikel Arteta also confirmed a foot injury for Mikel Merino, adding to the fitness concerns. 'He’s got an issue in his foot. It’s a bone that’s giving him some pain, and we have some exams, we need some more specialists to look at it and to see how long he will be out,' Arteta said.
There was positive news with Kai Havertz returning to the starting XI after recovering from a knock. The German midfielder scored and provided an assist in his previous cameo appearance. Arteta noted, 'He's ready, obviously he started the day... I think it was super positive, you could see straight away the impact that he can have in the team.'
Defensive reinforcements were available with William Saliba and Jurrien Timber both returning from knocks that kept them out of the midweek Champions League win over Kairat. Piero Hincapie started at left-back, while Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera have also recently returned to fitness. Viktor Gyokeres was left out, with Gabriel Jesus leading the attack.
