Arsenal find different ways to win in first game without Saka
Arsenal did not miss a beat without Bukayo Saka. A 2-0 win over Everton at the Emirates showed that Mikel Arteta's side can find other routes to goal, even on the day they confirmed their most important attacker would be sidelined for weeks.
Saka picked up a quad injury during Wednesday's trip to Bayern Munich. According to football.london, the initial expectation at the club is that he will be out for a minimum of six weeks, a spell that covers fixtures against Liverpool away, Borussia Dortmund at home, Manchester City at home, Tottenham away, Real Madrid at home and Manchester United at home.
The Friday Injury Tracker
Who's out, who's back and what it means for the next two games.
That is a brutal run to navigate without the club's most productive attacking outlet, and the numbers heading into the Everton match made for uncomfortable reading. Arsenal had been averaging 2.0 goals per 90 with Saka in the side compared to 1.6 without him, along with drops in shots per 90, possession and win ratio.
A different kind of victory
What stood out at the Emirates was how the goals came. Ezri Konsa opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a scrappy header from a corner, before Gabriel Magalhaes added the second. It marked Arsenal's first Premier League goal from a set piece this season, outside of Saka's penalty in the win at Sunderland.
That is a striking stat given Arsenal broke the Premier League record for goals scored from dead balls last season, with 19 accounting for more than a quarter of their league total across the whole campaign. At the same stage last term, they already had six goals from corners alone.
Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were both given licence to express themselves against Everton, with Christos Tzolis also missing through injury and reportedly in contention to return as soon as next week. Sixteen year old academy prospect Max Dowman remains another option pushing for involvement in the senior squad.
Not about finding a replacement
Nobody at Arsenal is pretending Saka can simply be swapped out for another player of identical qualities. The more realistic aim, at least for now, is squeezing more from the attacking options available and adjusting the team's approach to compensate for his absence.
Arsenal had been averaging the most passes per goalscoring sequence of any side in Europe's top five leagues and UEFA competitions before this weekend, with 7.3 passes per goal compared to Manchester City's 6.6. The win over Everton, built on a set piece and direct wing play that produced 12 corners, offered a more varied route to three points.
With as many as 15 matches still to come before the end of the year, Arsenal's ability to win in more than one way could prove decisive in both the title race and the Champions League. The gap to league leaders Manchester City was also cut as a result of Saturday's result.
