Saka absence explained as Arsenal star left out of squad vs Brighton

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Arsenal star Bukayo Saka was left out of the Gunners squad for Wednesday’s 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton. But to the relief of Gunners and England fans, the winger was only rested and is not injured.

Saka had featured in all 19 of Arsenal’s matches so far this season. But he was given a night off for the visit of the Seagulls.

The 21-year-old is almost nailed on to be named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the World Cup. Southgate will reveal the 26 players he has picked to travel to Qatar at 2pm on Thursday.

Saka has started all 13 Premier League matches this term and has been influential in Arsenal’s superb form. The Gunners sit top of the Premier League table, with Saka scoring four goals and registering six assists in the top flight.

Saka was one of 10 changes Mikel Arteta made against Brighton from Sunday’s 1-0 win at Chelsea. And the Evening Standard claimed his complete absence was in order for him to have a rest.

William Saliba was the only player to keep his place in the starting XI. Estonia international Karl Hein made his debut for the north Londoners in goal. Like Saka, fellow England hopeful Aaron Ramsdale was also rested completely, with Matt Turner named on the bench.

Cedric Soares earned his first start of the season, with Rob Holding partnering Saliba at the back. Kieran Tierney came in at left-back, with a midfield trio of Albert Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira and Mohamed Elneny.

Eddie Nketiah played up front and scored, with Marquinhos and Reiss Nelson playing out wide. The likes of Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Jesus were among a strong bench.

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Danny Welbeck came back to haunt his former side with an equaliser from the penalty spot after Nketiah’s opener. Goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Tariq Lamptey completed a fine turnaround for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.

Arteta felt the scoreline was not the correct reflection of how the game went. He said: “The view is that the result doesn’t reflect what happened on the pitch I think it’s clear. In moments where we were clearly on top of the game we didn’t take our opportunities.”

Both Saka and Ramsdale are likely to come back into the Arsenal side against Wolves on Saturday. Victory at Molineux would confirm top spot at Christmas for the league leaders.

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