Arsenal’s new kid on the block, Bukayo Saka appears on course to get his debut in the Carabao Cup fixture against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
Saka has already played twice for The Gunners’ main squad, with both coming in the UEFA Europa League, but footballlive.ng gathered that he could now be on his way to a domestic senior debut as well.
This comes following his exclusion from Arsenal’s under-23 squad that played against Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League 2 on Tuesday.
While Saka was apparently rested for the midweek derby with Spurs, fellow-Nigerian kids, James Olayinnka, Tolaji Bola, Tobi Omole and Xavier Amaechi all featured against Rovers.’
That beefed debate in favour of Saka starring in Wednesday’s quarter-final clash with Tottenham at Emirates Stadium.
Further boost for Saka comes from memories that the England under-19 international was part of Arsenal’s squad that played away on Sunday to Southampton, but he was omitted from the match line-up.
Arsenal boss, Unai Emery hinted that Saka might star against Spurs, as he believes the youngster has something good for the future.
Consequently, Saka is now rated tops of the youngsters Emery is confident can help the team bounce back from defeat to Southampton when they face their north London rivals in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Arsenal’s 22-game unbeaten run came to an end at Southampton on Sunday as Ralph Hasenhuttl claimed his maiden victory in charge of Saints with a 3-2 success.
Emery is ready to entrust his younger players with the task of securing the win that would take Arsenal into the semi-finals.
The like of Saka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Eddie Nketiah could therefore come into consideration for starts.
Emery said: “Our first idea is that we play with the best players that we can use in this derby.
“We can use some young players because we think with a big performance, they can help us win.
“Sunday for us is a big reality check in our way. We need to improve and also we need to continue doing our way in our process.
“It’s not a good result but this reality gives us more motivation to continue to work hard, finding a new thing to work on each day, and also it makes us demand a lot from ourselves in the way we work on this way.”
