Mikel Arteta confirms no new Arsenal injuries after Bukayo Saka withdrawn early at Port Vale

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Evening Standard

·24 de setembro de 2025

Mikel Arteta confirms no new Arsenal injuries after Bukayo Saka withdrawn early at Port Vale

The winger’s early replacement sparked worries he had picked up another issue

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Mikel Arteta has revealed he always planned to substitute Bukayo Saka after an hour against Port Vale - and Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns.

The Gunners booked a spot in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup by beating Port Vale 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in the eighth minute, before Leandro Trossard added a second late on.

Arteta made nine changes for the game, but he still named a strong side that included Saka.

The winger went down early in the second half after a heavy tackle, and he was subbed shortly after, but Arteta cooled fears a fresh knock had been picked up.

“It was planned, 60 minutes was the maximum,” he said. “We had four, almost five players already in the line-up that we had to get him out for different reasons, especially for load because he was coming from long periods out.

“So we planned for that and the good thing is that nobody got injured, so there are no muscular issues. So that’s a very positive thing again.”

Arteta was pleased with Arsenal’s win over Port Vale, with the Gunners restricting the League One side to no shots on target.

“Something that we discussed before the game, what was at stake in this game was your reputation, as a club, as a team, as an individual,” he said.

“We played these type of games, I’ve been here long enough to understand it’s going to be very tricky.

“I think we started the game really well, very dominant, scored a goal. We had another three or four opening chances that we didn’t manage to score the goal.

“In the second half we lost a little bit of grip of the game, especially with the direct play, with all the throw-ins to the sidelines and winning territory and then again.

“We lack a bit of dominance and control. With a few adjustments, we go back to that. We scored a beautiful goal, the second goal from Willy (William Saliba) and the quality of Leo on the finish is top draw. In general, happy with the win, the clean sheet and the debut of Kepa for us today.

“The goal of Ebz, his first for the club and then the fact that even making nine changes, the team can still perform really well.”