‘You are overplaying him’ – Mikael Silvestre urges Arsenal manager to rest forward

Former Arsenal defender, Mikael Silvestre, has urged the club’s manager Mikel Arteta to rest forward Bukayo Saka.

Silvestre believes Arteta is overplaying the England international in many games.

Saka made a club record 86th consecutive Premier League appearance during last weekend’s Premier League derby 2-2 draw against Tottenham.

But he failed to last 90 minutes after he sustained an injury in the closing stages of the encounter.

Saka subsequently missed Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third round win against Brentford and it is not clear if he would be available on Saturday against Bournemouth.

“Bukayo Saka is playing too much. He plays in a position where he is sprinting a lot, and he is challenged a lot by the defenders. He has not been given enough rest,” Silvestre told bettingexpert.

“He needs to be given some rest if Arsenal wants him to be there in March and April, which is when the team will really be competing in the important games for the title and in the Champions League.

“But he might get tired at that time. We know how tough the schedule in England is, and he also plays with the international team as well.

“By the time he has to go to the Euro, two-thirds of his energy will be gone.

“It’s both physical and mentally. He needs to recharge the battery and recover to be on top every week.”