Arteta confirms who will take Arsenal’s next penalty after Saka miss

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Mikel Arteta has shared who will take penalties for Arsenal after Bukayo Saka missed from 12 yards in their draw with West Ham at the weekend.

Mikel Arteta was speaking in his press conference ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Southampton on Friday. The game has extra importance for Arsenal after they threw away two-goal leads against both Liverpool and the Hammers.

The West Ham equaliser was all the more agonising because it came moments after Arsenal had the opportunity to move 3-1 ahead.

Arteta confirms Saka will stay on penalties

Michail Antonio was penalised for a handball inside the penalty area. And after a check, it was Bukayo Saka who stepped up to try and beat Lukasz Fabianski.

Saka has stepped up whenever the Gunners have needed him this season. However, he was unable to find the target against the Irons, putting his effort wide.

Saka apologised for missing the penalty after the game. And obviously, it raises the question over who will take Arsenal’s penalties moving forward.

Gabriel Jesus handed Saka the ball on Sunday. And there are several others within the Arsenal side who can probably take a very good penalty.

But when asked if Saka will continue, Arteta issued an emphatic response.

“Yes, if not, I would go on the pitch and throw him the ball and make sure he takes the next one,” he said in his press conference.

Saka, unfortunately, knows how it feels to miss an important penalty. But crucially, he bounced back in the best way possible after that effort in the Euro 2020 final, scoring his next spot-kick for Arsenal.

Ultimately, almost every player misses at some stage. Mo Salah’s record this season is extremely poor for a player of his ability.

The important thing is that Saka will always put his name forward. And clearly, Arteta is absolutely backing him to make amends.