Bukayo Saka and Takehiro Tomiyasu both gave Arsenal injury scares in the win over West Ham on Sunday, with both having to be substituted after stoppages in play. Despite the pair going off, the Gunners still emerged victorious.
Goals from Rob Holding and Gabriel from set-pieces either side of Jarrod Bowen's strike meant that the game ended 2-1 in a tense affair at the London Stadium. The victory pushed Mikel Arteta's men back into fourth, leapfrogging North London rivals Tottenham, who had won earlier in the day.
However, with four huge games left in the season, there will be some concern over the fitness of Tomiyasu and Saka. An encouraging sign for Arteta will be that neither had to be forced back inside for treatment, with both going straight back to the bench to sit down.
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For Tomiyasu, it could be a relief, should he be fine for the remaining four fixtures. The Japan international has impressed this season, playing as a deeper right-back to compliment the more adventurous left-back on the other side, though injury has disrupted his season already.
The 23-year-old has already missed eight games this season, with both calves causing him some grief during a key period of the season. Arteta has already been full of praise for the full-back this season, saying in a recent press conference: "When we followed the player, it is one of the things that I came across & it gives you a lot of solutions. He can use both feet, he can play right centre-back, left centre-back, left-back. That gives you enormous variability.”
Another key player is Saka who, despite his age, has been a real leadership figure in driving his team on this season. The 20-year-old has scored 11 goals and assisted five in the Premier League this season, playing with a fearless exuberance.
He was another injury worry following Manchester United, though Arteta confirmed he was a doubt to begin with: "Bukayo was struggling even to start the match, but he really wanted to do it. He had a big knock the other night, but at some stage, he was struggling. Let’s see how he is."
Both players have been vitally important to what the squad have achieved already this season. It will be important for them to be back to full fitness for the remaining four games, with a North London derby also on the horizon.
