Arsenal suffer crushing double injury blow as Raheem Sterling joins fellow winger Bukayo Saka on the treatment table

Saka had to be taken off just 24 minutes into his team's Premier League win against Crystal Palace on Sunday with a hamstring issue, sparking fears the Gunners' star man faces a significant spell on the sidelines.

The loss of the England international comes as a big problem for Arteta given Saka has scored five goals and registered 10 assists in the Premier League this season. Only Kai Havertz has scored more in the top-flight for Arsenal this season, while Declan Rice, with three, is their next top assist maker. Spanish coach Arteta opened up on the blow of losing Saka "for many weeks", telling reporters: "It’s a huge [blow]. He’s obviously a big player for us you just have to see the impact that he has on the team. It’s going to be a really good exercise for us to think of ways to overcome another challenge because we’ve had a lot over the season."

Sterling, who has made just 11 appearances since joining on loan from Chelsea, may have been selected as his direct replacement, but Arteta has revealed that he is also unavailable.

"He’s gonna be out for weeks I believe." Arteta said of Sterling. "He needs further testing tomorrow to understand the extent of his injury. It’s his knee. We have to wait and see another 24 hours. Unfortunately he’s gonna be out for a while."

Asked about how he will reorganise his team to cover for the absences, Arteta told reporters: "I am putting some ideas together. I haven’t got there yet. But I have a few. Then I want to speak with them as well to understand how we are going to generate that and take it in a positive way. Because that is going to mean we are going to be different. We went through the period with Martin, the period with five or six defenders missing, the period without many other players. We will continue to do that, finding ways and taking it with positive energy."

Arteta will have to juggle his tactics around as the Premier League title hopefuls host Ipswich on December 27 before a visit to Brentford on January 1. Arsenal are third in the table and six points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.