Bukayo Saka exposes Arsenal’s ambition and delivers Premier League and Champions League warning

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is chasing his first hat-trick for the club after scoring two goals in consecutive excellent away wins.

The 22-year-old and his teammates are in excellent form, with a stunning win against West Ham followed by another dominant effort at Burnley on Saturday. Despite netting both a penalty and an open play goal in each encounter, Saka is still waiting for his maiden Arsenal hat-trick.

“I’m really pleased,” the Hale End graduate said following the triumph at Turf Moor. “I’m loving my football, but obviously I need to keep focused.

“But yeah, of course I’m pleased to score two, two weeks in a row, and hopefully the third one will arrive soon. It’s coming. It’s coming, but I need to be patient.”

Saka’s only senior hat-trick till now came for England against North Macedonia last June during a Euro 2024 qualifier. The win over Burnley moves Arsenal above Manchester City in second, who drew against Chelsea on Saturday evening. Liverpool, who crushed Brentford 4-1 hours prior, are ahead of Mikel Arteta’s team by two points.

“It was a lot of fun out there,” Saka told club media. “I really enjoyed it, and it’s nice to see the fans coming up with new chants and stuff. I absolutely loved it, so I enjoyed it. The boss has told us we’re the first Arsenal squad to win five in a row at the start of the year, so it’s a wonderful achievement, and we’ll undoubtedly create momentum going forward.”

Arsenal have scored 21 goals in that five-game winning streak and will try to take that form into the Champions League against Porto in Wednesday’s last-16 first leg. “I think it’s really good,” Saka remarked of the Gunners’ free-scoring form.

“Definitely now that, not only that, I’m playing well, the team’s playing well, and we’re scoring a lot of goals because we’ve got some really important fixtures coming up, starting on Wednesday, and I can’t wait to go there. I’m incredibly excited. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully we can take this form into that game as well.”