Sunday briefing: Arsenal bring in Eze but Saka and Odegaard set for spell out

Injuries to Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard soured an otherwise perfect Saturday evening for Arsenal.

The Gunners had earlier finally confirmed the capture of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace before running out 5-0 winners against Leeds.

Meanwhile Tottenham, who missed out on Eze’s signature to their rivals, secured a fine 2-0 victory at Manchester City.

Arteta fears key duo face spells out

Mikel Arteta fears Saka and Odegaard are both braced for a period on the sidelines after they sustained injuries in Arsenal’s thumping 5-0 win over Leeds at the Emirates.

Viktor Gyokeres bagged a brace on his home debut for Arsenal, while Jurrien Timber also scored twice.

But Saka, who himself hit the target in first-half stoppage time, was replaced in the 53rd minute with a hamstring injury.

The England international was ruled out for three-and-half months last season after he was forced to have surgery on his right hamstring.

Saka pulled up before going down and clutching his left hamstring when the second half was just six minutes old. He hobbled off before he exchanged a guarded message with Arteta behind the veil of his left hand.

Odegaard fell awkwardly on his right shoulder early on and never fully recovered.

Arteta said: “Those are the negatives of the day. Martin felt something in his shoulder when he landed. We don’t know. We’ll have to scan him tomorrow and understand a bit better.

“And Bukayo, while he was running with the ball, carrying the ball, wrestling with the defender, he felt something in his hamstring while he was sprinting. That’s never a good sign.”

Eze does it for Arsenal

Eze completed his dream move to boyhood club Arsenal in a transfer which could be worth as much as £68million.

Eze became Arsenal’s seventh signing of the summer and catapulted their spending spree to £250m.

The England international has agreed a four-year deal and will wear the number 10 shirt.

Tottenham had been set to capture Eze after they reached an agreement with Palace on Wednesday, until Arteta’s side swooped in to hijack the transfer.

The 27-year-old was paraded on the pitch at half-time in his new Gunners shirt and an eye-catching pair of designer jeans.

Joao wows Spurs boss Frank

Thomas Frank praised summer signing Joao Palhinha after Tottenham put the disappointment of missing out on Eze behind them with an eye-catching 2-0 victory at Manchester City.

The former Brentford boss oversaw a 3-0 win against promoted Burnley in their Premier League opener and his excellent start to life in the hotseat continued at the Etihad Stadium.

Brennan Johnson converted Richarlison’s cross in a first half that ended with Palhinha, who recently joined on loan from Bayern Munich, rifling home as Tottenham capitalised on a James Trafford error with what proved to be the final goal.

“I think it’s fair to say that we’ve got a few questions about the transfer market yesterday – a lot about why not, and what if, and all that,” the Spurs boss said.

“What is 100 per cent sure is that we brought two top players into the club, (Mohammed) Kudus and Palhinha. Both of them performed very well, which I’m very pleased with. And Palhinha, wow!”

Rashford can’t make his Marc

Marcus Rashford’s full Barcelona debut lasted just 45 minutes with his side facing a humiliating defeat by newly-promoted Levante.

Barca were trailing 2-0 when Rashford was taken off at half-time at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.

And within seven minutes of the Manchester United loanee being replaced, Barca were back on level terms through goals from Pedri and Ferran Torres.

They found a stoppage-time winner through an Unai Elgezabal own goal to snatch a 3-2 victory.

What’s on today?

Manchester United go in search of their first points of the season at Fulham, while Everton host Brighton at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium and Nottingham Forest travel to Crystal Palace.

In Scotland, under-pressure Rangers boss Russell Martin makes the short trip to St Mirren.