Raheem Sterling among three Bukayo Saka Arsenal alternatives for Liverpool test
Bukayo Saka coming off against Greece for England on Thursday evening was a sight that no one wanted to see, well perhaps besides Arsenal’s title rivals. The Gunners have a very difficult run of games coming up with trips to Bournemouth, Newcastle, Inter Milan and Chelsea to come while also hosting Liverpool in just over a fortnight.
Mikel Arteta has been without Saka in the past and deputised well, winning all three league games he missed last season. However, there are, after some astute recruitment and further development, more options to choose from this season.
Gabriel Martinelli
Gabriel Martinelli was the player who stepped up, from the bench, against Manchester City when Saka was unavailable for the title clash to score the winner. Thankfully, recently, Martinelli has again found his form, scoring against Leicester and Southampton to see a weight lift from his shoulders.
While typically a left-winger, moving Leandro Trossard to the flank and instead switching the Brazilian switch to the right solves the issue. Like Saka, Martinelli loves to drive to the touchline and cut the ball back where we hope Kai Havertz will be waiting to finish off the chances.
Gabriel Jesus
In that very game that Saka missed against Man City, it was Gabriel Jesus who started against his former club. In the game, he made more tackles (4) than any other player and the joint-most blocks.
It would be his defensive contributions that would be valuable against Liverpool and mirror that of Martinelli who would continue on the left. The worry is that Jesus is not in the best of form at the moment and even in that game against City he had just one shot, not on target, and created only three shooting opportunities in the game – he may not now be the best choice.
Raheem Sterling
Lastly is Raheem Sterling who arrived in the summer on loan from Chelsea and it would be fair to say he has yet to truly get going with his time at Arsenal. We are still yet to see, “The best of him” like he said we would in his signing video but frankly, he has yet to be given the minutes to build up to that although did get a solid goal and assist in the League Cup win over Bolton.
He could be a more natural right winger as he possesses the best level of versatility of the wingers at the club and has come on for Saka already this season. It would be a significant show of faith in the man that Arteta is credited with helping reach his best levels when at City – the hope is now the Spaniard will help that be rediscovered.
