What happened to Bukayo Saka moments before Arsenal red card that Mikel Arteta won't like

For the third match in a row, Bukayo Saka was taken off early by Mikel Arteta as Arsenal beat Burnley 3-1 in a scrappy affair at the Emirates Stadium. Saka, often the beacon of light during games like this, helped his side to open the scoring before eventually earning himself an ounce of rest with the Gunners two goals to the good.

It comes at a time when the 22-year-old's fitness is one of the big stories every time Arsenal play, especially in recent weeks. Having completed 90 minutes in five of the opening six games he has now only done it twice in the last six, missing his first game in over 80 matches in the process.

On Wednesday night against Sevilla he was kept on the field despite taking a knock earlier on in the clash after once more being the centre of attention for opposition defenders. Saka still managed to get himself a goal and an assist, a credit to his mental and physical resilience but did enter the weekend as a doubt.

«We want out players to play for their club and national team,»Arteta said ahead of the game afrer Gareth Southgate called up the attacker for England's latest international squad. «B [Saka] didn’t train yesterday [Thursday]. Let’s see if he can make it tomorrow.»

As is often the case Saka did make the game and did start, breaking open the first-half with a neat header across the box to Leandro Trossard for the opening goal. He had come close to doing similarly earlier in the game with another back-post cross that caused confusion in the Burnley defence.

Ultimately Areta was eventually able to take Saka off as his side responded to Josh Brownhill's equalising goal well. William Saliba quickly put them back ahead and then Oleksandr Zinchenko created a buffer between the sides. Saka then went off