Mikel Arteta drops devastating Bukayo Saka injury update as full list of Arsenal games he could miss revealed

Mikel Arteta has delivered worrying injury news involving Bukayo Saka after he was forced off against Crystal Palace.

Saka, who has nine goals and 13 assists in 24 games this season, left the pitch 25 minutes into the 5-1 hammering at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Arteta confirmed it was a hamstring injury for the England international and admitted he was “really worried”. In his press conference ahead of the visit of Ipswich Town on 27 December, the Arsenal boss provided an update on Saka's situation and predicted a substantial absence for one of his key players.

"It's not looking good, he's going to be out for many weeks," Arteta said on Monday.

"I cannot be too specific because I do not know but it's going to be many weeks.

"It's a huge one, he's a massive player for us.

"You have to see the impact he has on this team but it will be a good exercise for all of us to overcome another challenge, because we've had a lot in the season."

This is Saka's third hamstring problem this season and though Arteta did not give an exact timeframe, The Times say recovery time for a moderate injury to the muscle in question is between between four and six weeks.

Bukayo Saka was forced off with a hamstring injury in Arsenal's win over Crystal Palace. Image: Getty

It could well be that the issue is even worse for Saka and Arsenal in a testing, busy period.

After the Ipswich game on Friday, Arsenal have another nine games before the end of January - including the second North London derby against Spurs and a clash against Aston Villa, as well the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Newcastle United.

There are also two final Champions League group stage fixtures and a meeting with Manchester United in the FA Cup third round on the horizon.

Medical expert weighs in with concern

Saka tore his hamstring at the weekend and was seen on crutches afterwards. Though Arteta did not go into detail on the extent of Saka's injury, the X account @Physioscout, which examines injuries to Premier League players, weighed in with their view.

“It's extremely hard to predict the time-length of muscle injuries based on video, but the reaction and the use of crutches points towards at least a muscle strain, rather than tightness,” said an explanation posted to X.

“This is more likely a grade 1/2 hamstring strain.

“Would be very unlucky if he suffered a grade 3, but that is more correlated with injuries higher up on the hamstring.”