Arteta on Saka’s return, the chance to go top again and his ‘surprise’ at reaction to Man City game | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta is backing Bukayo Saka to make an instant impact on his return to the Arsenal squad.

Saka is set to return to the squad for Saturday’s game against Newcastle having been out with an Achilles problem of late.

“We certainly have, in Bukayo, one of the most influential players that we’ve had in the last few years and he’s a player that when it comes to those moments, we’re expecting to produce those moments, to win it for us,” Arteta said.

“And we need it in the squad, we have it now and hopefully we can use it in the right way.”

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Arsenal could go back to the top of the Premier League by getting a result against Newcastle, after Manchester City went top by beating Burnley on Wednesday.

But Arteta says the order of fixtures is not significant.

“No and we’re going to play tomorrow and then we’re going to play again. So that will shift as well,” he said.

“So we’ve been talking about that psychology part, I think the biggest one is that you perform, you win the match and then it’s all fine.”

The Arsenal boss also admits he is “surprised” by the claim people did not expect Arsenal to approach their defeat to Manchester City last week in the way they did.

“I’m surprised that somebody’s surprised,” he said when asked about his team’s attacking approach. “We’ve always done it, that’s always been us. 

“I have a very different opinion about that.

“But again everything has to go your way and those actions have to go your way and we hit the post, and we have two big chances as well to score the game.

“Decisions have to go your way as well, which is very important when the margins are so small. So everything has to be perfect.”