After breaking his collarbone, Kostas Tsimikas of Liverpool was apologised to by Bukayo Saka.
After Gabriel gave Arsenal the lead and Mohamed Salah equalized for the home team, Arsenal and Liverpool’s match at the top of the table concluded in a 1-1 tie. As a result, the Gunners are the league leaders at Christmas.
Despite not getting on the scoresheet, Saka was in the spotlight
One of the main flashpoints in the game came just after the half an hour mark, though. Saka and Tsimikas battled for the ball near the dugouts and the Greek was sent flying into Jurgen Klopp before landing awkwardly on the turf.
As a result, Klopp said to Sky Sports, Tsimikas’ collarbone was “definitely broken.”
Tsimikas is now anticipated to be sidelined for a while, adding to the already difficult holiday season for numerous clubs due to a backlog of injuries. Since Andy Robertson won’t be back until the new year, Liverpool will probably rely on Joe Gomez to cover for him at left back until one of them is cleared to play again.
Saka expressed regret for his involvement in the incident following the game, saying, “I want to apologize to him, clearly, I didn’t mean it, but I heard he went to the hospital.
“For me it was a 50/50 and I have gone shoulder to shoulder with him. I didn’t see it but he must have taken a bad fall, I didn’t see him go into Jurgen Klopp either.
“I was focused on running forward because I didn’t think it was a foul. That’s my take on it.”
Klopp also stated he wasn’t personally injured by the incident, but that he’d have happily broken his own collarbone if it meant his star was unharmed.
The Greek international was sent to hospital after the incident.
Saka insists there was no malice in his tackle
Tsimikas remained on the turf after the incident
Speaking about the result, Klopp said: “It was massively overshadowed by Kostas Tsimikas collarbone issue, definitely broken, so he is out for a long time.
“The other issues we will have to see. It is hard for us to swallow with the Robbo [Andy Robertson] situation.”