{"id":44369,"date":"2026-03-12T08:43:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T12:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/arteta-says-arsenal-star-needs-to-make-a-courageous-decision-after-he-changed-the-game-against-leverkusen\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T08:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T12:43:19","slug":"arteta-says-arsenal-star-needs-to-make-a-courageous-decision-after-he-changed-the-game-against-leverkusen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/arteta-says-arsenal-star-needs-to-make-a-courageous-decision-after-he-changed-the-game-against-leverkusen\/","title":{"rendered":"Arteta says Arsenal star needs to make a &#8216;courageous decision&#8217; after he &#8216;changed the game&#8217; against Leverkusen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/arteta-says-arsenal-star-needs-to-make-a-courageous-decision-after-he-changed-the-game-against-leverkusen\/#Should_Mikel_Arteta_start_Noni_Madueke_over_Bukayo_Saka\" >Should Mikel Arteta start Noni Madueke over Bukayo Saka?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/arteta-says-arsenal-star-needs-to-make-a-courageous-decision-after-he-changed-the-game-against-leverkusen\/#Bukayo_Saka_vs_Noni_Madueke_match_result\" >Bukayo Saka vs Noni Madueke match result<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Mikel Arteta and Bukayo Saka (Photo by Mike Hewitt, Stuart Franklin\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is said to be likely to make a &#8220;courageous decision&#8221; regarding Bukayo Saka after Noni Madueke outplayed him against Bayer Leverkusen.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners were far from their best following their 1-1 draw in the Champions League last night, with Saka in particular struggling to provide his usual inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>Maduke came on as a substitute for the fellow England winger, but it soon became clear that he posed an even greater threat.<\/p>\n<p>The former Chelsea player won Arsenal&#8217;s penalty late on, allowing Kai Havertz to equalize.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_Mikel_Arteta_start_Noni_Madueke_over_Bukayo_Saka\"><\/span>Should Mikel Arteta start Noni Madueke over Bukayo Saka?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Former Premier League striker Charlie Austin told Sky Sports News that Arteta may now have to make a brave decision.<\/p>\n<p>Austin felt that Saka was underperforming despite being the club&#8217;s star player, but when Maduke came on the game changed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s difficult,&#8221; he said. \u201cWhen he came on, I think his performance deserved to be a starter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, the problem he has is that Arsenal&#8217;s star players are playing in the same position as him, so it will take a brave decision from the manager to make that change.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8220;If I were Noni Madueke, I would be asking, &#8216;What more can I do?'&#8221; Because when he came on last night, he changed the course of the game&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He got the ball, ran towards defenders and caused things to happen. He didn&#8217;t do that in the 58th or 59th minute when Saka was on the pitch.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bukayo_Saka_vs_Noni_Madueke_match_result\"><\/span>Bukayo Saka vs Noni Madueke match result<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s compare Saka and Maduke&#8217;s stats so far this season&#8230;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-414x362.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-630x551.jpg.webp 630w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-768x672.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-770x674.jpg.webp 770w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-900x788.jpg.webp 900w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-1200x1050.jpg.webp 1200w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7-1536x1344.jpg.webp 1536w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DataMB-Screenshot-7.jpg.webp 1680w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 770px, (min-width:1020px) 630px, (min-width:900px) 880px, (min-width:680px) 97vw, (min-width:414px) 414px, 100vw\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bukayo Saka vs Noni Madueke Match Results (DataMB)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the moment, it is clear that Saka still has a lot to offer, even if it does not pass the so-called &#8220;eye test&#8221; as in the past.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, it&#8217;s worth remembering that Saka has played far more minutes than Maduke. Perhaps the latter is showing signs of being able to do a better job overall if he has the opportunity to spend more time on the pitch and develop better chemistry with his teammates.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mikel Arteta and Bukayo Saka (Photo by Mike Hewitt, Stuart Franklin\/Getty Images) Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is said to be likely to make a &#8220;courageous decision&#8221; regarding Bukayo Saka after Noni Madueke outplayed him against Bayer Leverkusen. The Gunners were far from their best following their 1-1 draw in the Champions League last night, with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-44369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}