{"id":298521,"date":"2023-11-28T23:25:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T23:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=298521"},"modified":"2023-11-28T23:25:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T23:25:44","slug":"mikel-arteta-tips-bukayo-saka-to-fire-gunners-into-cl-knockouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/mikel-arteta-tips-bukayo-saka-to-fire-gunners-into-cl-knockouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta tips Bukayo Saka to fire Gunners into CL knockouts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Mikel Arteta tips &#8216;ruthless&#8217; Bukayo Saka to fire Arsenal through to the Champions League knockouts&#8230; but the Gunners boss is guarding against complacency ahead of Lens clash<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Arsenal play Lens at the Emirates on Wednesday night in the Champions League\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>But Mikel Arteta is backing &#8216;star boy&#8217; Bukayo Saka to fire them to the knockouts\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gary Neville in a heated gilet at Goodison! He used to be a tough defender&#8230; what&#8217;s going on? Listen to It&#8217;s All Kicking Off<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It was five years ago in the cold of Ukraine when the \u2018starboy\u2019 stepped forward.<\/p>\n<p>In reality Bukayo Saka\u2019s journey had begun 10 years earlier after he joined Arsenal\u2019s pre-academy as a seven-year-old.<\/p>\n<p>Yet even those who had high hopes for Saka would be surprised by the trajectory he has followed since that 22-minute cameo against Vorskla Poltava for his first-team debut.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal won that Europa League match 3-0 and Unai Emery handed Saka a further three appearances in that 2018-19 season, but under Mikel Arteta, Saka\u2019s transformation has been remarkable.<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old, given the starboy tag by Arsenal fans, has always had a killer final ball, as reflected by his 12 assists as a teenager in the 2019-20 season.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/28\/21\/78345391-0-image-a-1_1701208649422.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mikel Arteta has backed &#8216;star boy&#8217; Bukayo Saka to fire Arsenal through to the knockout stages of the Champions League<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/28\/21\/78345399-0-image-a-2_1701208651997.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Arteta lumped praise on Saka, lauding him for his &#8216;ruthlessness&#8217; on the pitch as well as his humility off it<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/28\/21\/78345385-0-image-a-3_1701208670486.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Arsenal boss said that &#8216;it is impossible not to love Bukayo&#8217; who has scored six goals in all competitions this season<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>But Arteta challenged Saka to add goals to his game. Challenge accepted, his tally has increased with each campaign, reaching 15 in all competitions last season.<\/p>\n<h3>Arsenal&#8217;s possible team to play Lens\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>ARSENAL (probable, 4-3-3): Raya; Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s got that ruthless mentality now to be the best that he can be every single day and to really be there on the pitch to affect games and win games for the team,\u2019 said Arteta ahead of Wednesday&#8217;s visit of Lens in which a point will send Arsenal into the knockout stages with a game to spare.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It is impossible not to love Bukayo,\u2019 continued the Gunners boss. \u2018You sit with him two minutes, you get to know him and you get shocked at what a special character and person he is. At the same time he is so humble, but he\u2019s that person that sets the line there (high) and that\u2019s enough, and that\u2019s a big quality I think.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Only Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Saka remain from Emery\u2019s class of 2019 and it is Saka\u2019s willingness to adapt combined with his work ethic that have taken his game to new levels. Leandro Trossard certainly believes so. The telepathic connection between the pair has seen Saka assist all seven of the Belgian\u2019s goals for the Gunners.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/28\/21\/78345389-0-image-a-4_1701208683842.jpg\" height=\"491\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He proved pivotal in his side&#8221;s 1-0 win against Brentford at the weekend setting up Kai Havertz for the winner<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/28\/21\/78345437-0-image-a-5_1701208753202.jpg\" height=\"406\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Arsenal defender Ben White did not train with the side on Tuesday but is available for Wednesday&#8217;s Champions League clash against Lens<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He has so much quality,\u2019 said Trossard. \u2018He can make that one pass in the 18-yard box and you just need to be ready.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Arteta is seeking revenge against a team who beat his in France last month and a win will ensure Arsenal top the group.<\/p>\n<p>The Arsenal boss added: \u2018We know they will cause us problems. We have experienced a defeat against them so we have the right motivation to put that right.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Ben White did not train with the group on Tuesday, though Arteta expects him to be available. He is without Fabio Vieira, who has been ruled out until January after having groin surgery.<\/p>\n<p>But with Saka, Arsenal can reach for the stars.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12802171\/Mikel-Arteta-Bukayo-Saka-Arsenal-Champions-League-knockout.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mikel Arteta tips &#8216;ruthless&#8217; Bukayo Saka to fire Arsenal through to the Champions League knockouts&#8230; but the Gunners boss is guarding against complacency ahead of Lens clash Arsenal play Lens at the Emirates on Wednesday night in the Champions League\u00a0 But Mikel Arteta is backing &#8216;star boy&#8217; Bukayo Saka to fire them to the knockouts\u00a0&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mikel Arteta tips Bukayo Saka to fire Gunners into CL knockouts - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/mikel-arteta-tips-bukayo-saka-to-fire-gunners-into-cl-knockouts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mikel Arteta tips Bukayo Saka to fire Gunners into CL knockouts - Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mikel Arteta tips &#8216;ruthless&#8217; 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