What's going on with Bukayo Saka?! Arsenal and England winger losing his talismanic status at pivotal moment for club and country

Despite the Gunners leading the Premier League table by nine points and having scored the most goals, Saka is having his least productive season in five years. In the Premier League, he has scored six goals from 22 games, the same amount as last season, when he started only 20 matches due to undergoing hamstring surgery and missing more than three months.

He has only three assists, compared to 10 last season, leaving him with nine goal contributions compared to 16 last term. It is an even bigger drop off in comparison to the three previous campaigns, having contributed to 25 goals in 2023-23 and 2022-23, and 18 strikes in 2021-22.

His impact in crunch matches has also declined starkly. Between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons he registered 22 goals and assists against the traditional 'Big Six' in the Premier League, earning a reputation for stepping up when it mattered most. Last season, it was just two, a goal against Liverpool and an assist against Manchester City, with the obvious caveat that he missed so many matches.

And this term he has only one assist against Chelsea to show for his eight games against top six opponents, and no goals and assists in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea, the final against City or the two Champions League knockout games against Bayer Leverkusen.

Saka endured a 15-game goal drought spanning 11 weeks, while he has only scored twice in the league since December, only missing two games in that period.

Saka spoke about his lack of productivity in the build-up to the final against City. "This season I’d have liked to have been a bit more consistent, at my highest level," he told former Arsenal forward Paul Merson.

"It can happen sometimes but I'm just happy that as a team we’re doing well together, we’re fighting on all fronts, that’s what it's about. I want people to know that every time I'm on the pitch I'm going to leave everything out there and do everything I can to help my team win."

But Saka’s performance in the defeat by City at Wembley, which ended the Gunners' hopes of achieving the quadruple, was a great source of frustration for Arsenal fans.

The only chances he had amounted to his two shots at James Trafford in a flash at the start of the game while he attempted just one dribble and could not complete it. He was also dribbled past five times, meaning the sacrifice he made to his attacking game to boost Arsenal defensively was all for nothing.

"Saka, he didn’t have a good game," said Ray Parlour on Talksport. "He’s out of form, maybe lost a bit of confidence, I don’t know, belief? It’s not ideal this year, going into the World Cup as well, if you’re an England fan."

Parlour’s co-presenter Ally McCoist said Noni Madueke was having a better season than Saka and called for the No.7 to be taken out of the firing line for a game or two by Mikel Arteta.

Madueke looked more threatening than Saka when he came on for the final 24 minutes at Wembley. And he proved more effective when he replaced him for the final half hour of the first leg at Leverkusen, earning the penalty which allowed Arsenal to snatch a 1-1 draw in Germany.

Madueke also poses a threat to Saka at international level after also being named in the squad to face Uruguay and Japan in England’s last games on home soil before heading to the World Cup.

Arteta offered a staunch defence of Saka defence of Saka after the game in Leverkusen. He said: "With B, fully trust him and love him. He can have an individual performance that is not a reflection of his level, like every human and player in the world, but when you look at his strength and the impact he has on the team, it’s just incredible."

The Arsenal coach also cited the effect of the injuries to Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard have had on Saka’s influence and brought up the sheer amount of games he has played for a 24-year-old.

Since making his debut for Arsenal in November 2018, Saka has played 305 times for Arsenal, leaving him 41st on the list of the club’s all-time appearance makers. He played a club record 83 consecutive Premier League games between 2021 and 2023. He has played 48 times for England, putting him 73rd on the list for his country.

It is an astonishing amount of games for a player of his age, considering Wayne Rooney, the outfield player with the most appearances for the Three Lions, got the last of his 120 caps aged 33.

Others cite Arsenal’s more defensive approach in the last two seasons under Arteta, which has seen the team score fewer goals than in previous campaigns and spread them out more evenly.

"I think it comes from the manager, because I think they're having to do too much defensive work," said Micah Richards on The Rest is Football. "He needs to now say, 'OK, we've lost this, it's not the end of the world, what can I do to make sure in the Champions League, in the FA Cup, and in the league, I'm the Saka that everyone knows and loves', because that's a big player. Big players turn up in the big games, and that's what they need to do."

Gary Lineker agreed: "They get the ball deep, and he's having to do so much defensive work, and by the time he gets it they're all back and deep and they can double and sometimes treble up on him.

"He still plays brilliantly, but it's not easy for him, whereas, if they were higher up the pitch, they could get the ball to him early and then he's one on one and you've got half a chance. It's very difficult to beat two or three players every time."

A less cited but obvious reason for Saka’s drop in attacking quality is the effect of hamstring surgery, which seems to have reduced his ability to beat players like he used to. Saka tore his hamstring against Crystal Palace in December 2024 and had to have surgery in the early hours of Christmas Eve.

He told The Sunday Times: "You start to think, 'Am I going to be the same?' Sometimes I can think, 'Am I going to come back in the best shape?' I’d gone from five years playing straight football, either involved with the team every single day training or playing games, then everything stops. You’re on crutches, in hospital and need help around the house for the first few weeks."

Michael Owen, another player who hit the heights for club and country as a teenager, has said his career began to decline from age 23, largely because of a hamstring injury he suffered at 19. Owen did not benefit from the modern medicine Saka had at his disposal and several players, most notably 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, have come back as good if not stronger from the same injury.

Saka could well have his best years ahead of him after all but his recent drop off has sparked understandable fear for England and Arsenal fans. He is going to sit out the friendly against Uruguay due to Tuchel splitting up the squad for the March friendlies but he will be back at Wembley to face Japan on Tuesday, hoping to add to his 14 goals for his country.

England’s World Cup hopes hinge upon Saka getting back to his best and so do Arsenal’s dreams of winning their first Premier League title in 22 years. Tuchel will not be the only one urging him to raise his game.

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