Arteta on Saka’s return, the chance to go top again and his ‘surprise’ at reaction to Man City game

Arteta on Saka’s return, the chance to go top again and his ‘surprise’ at reaction to Man City game

Mikel Arteta is backing Bukayo Saka to make an instant impact on his return to the Arsenal squad.

Saka is set to return to the squad for Saturday’s game against Newcastle having been out with an Achilles problem of late.

“We certainly have, in Bukayo, one of the most influential players that we’ve had in the last few years and he’s a player that when it comes to those moments, we’re expecting to produce those moments, to win it for us,” Arteta said.

“And we need it in the squad, we have it now and hopefully we can use it in the right way.”

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Arsenal could go back to the top of the Premier League by getting a result against Newcastle, after Manchester City went top by beating Burnley on Wednesday.

But Arteta says the order of fixtures is not significant.

“No and we’re going to play tomorrow and then we’re going to play again. So that will shift as well,” he said.

“So we’ve been talking about that psychology part, I think the biggest one is that you perform, you win the match and then it’s all fine.”