Bukayo Saka to return from injury for Arsenal against Fulham
Mikel Arteta confirmed Bukayo Saka could return for Arsenal against Fulham in the Premier League on Tuesday, having been out of action since December.
The England international has made 24 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal this term but has not featured since their win over Crystal Palace on December 21.
Should he feature, he will be looking to help the Gunners extend their three-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League, while they also have the opportunity to close the gap between them and leaders Liverpool to nine points, with the Reds not playing until Wednesday.
“Bukayo Saka is ready to go,” Arteta said in his press conference.
“All the careful things are already done. Now it’s about putting him in the grass at the right moment. But he’s pushing because he really wants to.
“We have respected the timeline, and we have done everything. He is ready to go.”
Saka has scored five goals and provided 10 assists in the Premier League, with only Mohamed Salah (17) setting up more goals this term (Antonee Robinson and Mikkel Damsgaard also 10).
“Bukayo Saka is a massive weapon that we have,” he added.
“We know the impact he has in the team and how important his role and contribution is to our success. It’s great to have him back again.”
Fulham, meanwhile, are looking to bounce back from their FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
In the Premier League, they are in the fight for a European place, sitting in eighth, and are looking to register back-to-back wins over the North London clubs, having beaten Tottenham before the international break.
Fulham are on a three-game unbeaten streak against Arsenal, and Marco Silva is confident they can extend that run on Tuesday.
“Our recent record against them has been very good, shows that we have been doing very, very good things against them,” Silva said.
“We are brave, our courage is going to be there, our quality as well, our organisation, and, of course, we have to be able to match their physicality that is going to be in the game.
“I really believe that if we are at our best level, we have shown already that we are able to respond really well.”
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