Arsenal travel to Manchester City for a fixture that could have major implications for the Premier League title race, but Bukayo Saka will not be involved.

The timing of Saka’s absence is especially damaging given Arsenal’s recent domestic form. The club have lost their last three domestic affairs, exited both Cup competitions and allowed Man City to climb back into the title picture. Progression to the Champions League semifinals last time out should offer a lift, but attacking struggles have been exposed in recent weeks and Saka’s unavailability is a notable setback.

Saka has been sidelined by an Achilles tendon issue since he withdrew from England’s camp during the March international window. What was initially regarded as a precautionary matter has persisted. He has not played since the 2–0 defeat against City in the Carabao Cup final, and Arsenal have won just one of their four games since.

“It’s something he was carrying a while,” Arteta revealed about Saka’s nagging Achilles issue prior to the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against Sporting CP. Arteta said there has been progression and expressed guarded optimism, noting the club are monitoring the recovery closely. The manager also signalled hope for a short-term return, saying the aim is for the winger to be back in “days not weeks.”

“He’s just starting to do some stuff, so let’s see that progression, how quickly we can go through it, and then wait, but at the moment it’s not about that,” Arteta added when asked if Saka was back in training.

Injuries have troubled Saka over the past two seasons, and he has missed more than 30 games through fitness issues since the start of 2025. Given the risks associated with Achilles problems, Arsenal are proceeding cautiously as they manage his recovery, particularly with the winger expected to feature for England in the 2026 World Cup.

Noni Madueke, the natural replacement, is also an injury doubt for the trip to Manchester, though Arteta is hopeful he can be available.

Arsenal advanced to the Champions League semifinals for a second successive season despite an uninspiring second leg against Sporting CP. The Gunners held a slim aggregate advantage and produced just a single shot on target in the return match, but defended that lead to reach the last four.

Sporting captain Morten Hjulmand described the game in blunt terms. “The impact of the first game that we lost made it more difficult to go to the Emirates and win, especially when they don’t often lose at home we knew it would be difficult.

“But the game had low intensity and no rhythm, zero goals and I would say boring. I think a lot stops during the game so we couldn’t get the rhythm that we wanted to. A little bit boring.”

The tie provided a sharp contrast with the high‑scoring contest between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, a 6–4 aggregate thriller unfolding at the same time in Germany. For Arsenal, however, results mattered more than style.

“Frustrating? No, we just got to a semifinal, positivity all the way,” stand‑in captain Declan Rice told reporters. “Who cares what people think? All that matters is what this group thinks, what the manager thinks and we’re in another semifinal. I’m delighted.

“We’ll keep going. Keep playing well. Keep getting over the line and bring it on. Bring on everything. This is Arsenal Football Club, there’s noise with every game. If you don’t play well, take it with a pinch of salt and keep moving. Nobody’s going to hand you anything in this game.”

Mikel Arteta underlined that progression was the priority. “I don’t know [if the outcome was fair in Sporting]. I’m the Arsenal manager, and I think it’s very fair what happened over the last two legs,” he said. “You have to be better than the opponent. I think we had many periods in the game when we were there, but we didn’t score the goal. We have many other things that are very important to get the result that you need in a tie.”

This is the club’s first consecutive Champions League semifinal run. Arsenal will meet Atlético Madrid on April 29 and May 5, beginning in Madrid with the decisive second leg at home. Arteta paid tribute to the work behind the achievement. “There’s been a lot of work behind it, we’ve done something that has never been done in the history of our club in 140 years,” he said. “That tells you the difficulty.”

Professional football demands entertainment but also rewards results, and that tension is most visible in how teams manage dead-ball restarts when protecting a lead. The Times has produced a detailed breakdown of how long each Premier League club takes across corners, direct free-kicks, indirect free-kicks, goal kicks and throw-ins while winning. The analysis ranks Leeds United as the club that, on average, takes the most time to restart when defending a lead.

Leeds are particularly deliberate over throw-ins and direct free-kicks. Managers have noticed: Daniel Farke has famously complained about opponents’ time-wasting, most notably after both games against Manchester City. At Leeds, long launches from Ethan Ampadu are a frequent sight in the final third, and Anton Stach has already rattled in three set-piece goals this season.

Promoted Burnley also feature near the top of the list for slowdown when protecting a lead, a pattern that fits with clubs trying to preserve scarce advantages. Arsenal’s presence among the higher-ranked teams will attract scrutiny given their position at the top of the table. The Gunners are unusually slow across several restart types and are the only team to sit in the top half of the division for time spent on all five restart categories.

Fabian Hürzeler captured the frustration felt by rivals after a tight loss to Arsenal. “Only one team tried to play football,” the young German coach sighed.

“I ask you one question,” Hürzeler posed to assembled media. “Did you see in a Premier League game a goalkeeper going down three times? You can’t control these kind of things … therefore the Premier League has to find a rule.”

Arsenal’s restart ranks while leading read: Corner 2nd, Direct Free-Kick 6th, Indirect Free-Kick 9th, Goal Kick 4th, Throw-In 8th. By contrast Manchester City rank: Corner 17th, Direct Free-Kick 2nd, Indirect Free-Kick 20th, Goal Kick 10th, Throw-In 18th. City, Liverpool and Chelsea are among the five quickest clubs at getting the ball back into play, alongside Brighton. “No one recognizes it,” Hürzeler seethed, “but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner.”

The issue has drawn attention at club level and from governing bodies, with broader rule changes under consideration ahead of the summer World Cup.