Evening Standard
·27 de dezembro de 2024
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·27 de dezembro de 2024
Gunners must shake off Bukayo Saka injury blow as they host the Tractor Boys after Christmas
Arsenal start life without Bukayo Saka when they play Ipswich at Emirates Stadium.
Saka could be out until March after tearing his hamstring at Crystal Palace last weekend and the Gunners will have to find a way to cope without their talisman.
Arsenal will be bidding to close back to within six points of Liverpool after the Premier League leaders moved nine point clear with a 3-1 win over Leicester at Anfield on Boxing Day
Arsenal can climb into second place above Chelsea, who lost 2-1 to Fulham.
Ipswich will be out to cause another shock in north London after winning 2-0 at Tottenham in November.
Arsenal vs Ipswich is scheduled for an 8:15pm GMT kick-off on Friday December 27, 2024.
The match will take place at the Emirates Stadium in north London.
TV channel: The game will be broadcast live in the UK on Amazon Prime Video, with coverage beginning at 7pm GMT.
Live stream: Subscribers will be able to watch on a live stream online via the Amazon Prime Video website or app.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog, with expert analysis from Simon Collings at the Emirates.
As mentioned, Arsenal fear that Saka could be out until March with his hamstring tear, with Arteta admitting on Monday that he faces “many weeks” on the sidelines.
Compounding that situation is the fact that Raheem Sterling is also now out for several weeks with a knee issue sustained during training.
Oleksandr Zinchenko could return this week having not played since the start of the month, though Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain long-term absentees.
Major blow: Arsenal could be without Bukayo Saka until March due to a hamstring tear
Arsenal FC via Getty Images
For Ipswich, captain Sam Morsy is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in Saturday’s 4-0 home drubbing by Newcastle, though top scorer Liam Delap will return from his own one-match ban.
Massimo Luongo has been dealing with an illness of late, while Axel Tuanzebe, Chiedozie Ogbene and George Hirst are all still out.
Losing Saka for an extended period of time was a hammer blow to Arsenal’s title hopes, but they cannot spend any time feeling sorry for themselves as the fixtures continue to pile up over the busy festive period.
The contrasting natures of their back-to-back wins over Palace - not to mention Jesus’ long-awaited return to the scoresheet - should have done a lot for their confidence after being held to frustrating draws by both Fulham and Everton.
They should have far too much for an Ipswich team who were demolished by Newcastle, are missing their influential captain and likely face a real uphill task to consolidate their place in the Premier League this term.
However, Arsenal would still do well not to underestimate McKenna’s side, whose only two wins in the league so far this season have both come away from home - including with a shock triumph down the road at Tottenham back in November.
Arsenal to win, 3-0.
Arsenal won 2-0 home and away the last time these two teams were in the same division back in the 2001/02 season, while they sealed a place in the then Carling Cup final with a 3-1 aggregate triumph over two legs in 2011. It has been 13 years since they last met.
Arsenal wins: 30
Ipswich wins: 18
Draws: 11
Arsenal to win: 1/8
Ipswich to win: 18/1
Draw: 17/2
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).