Bukayo Saka struggled before Noni Madueke's introduction against Bayer Leverkusen so what's behind the Arsenal forward's dip this season?

It is highly unusual to see Bukayo Saka's number come up as early as the 60th minute, especially in a game in which Arsenal need a goal. And yet it came as little surprise against Bayer Leverkusen. Their captain on the night had struggled.

For an hour at the BayArena, Saka was unable to find a way through on Arsenal's right-hand side, sometimes confronted by as many as three Bayer Leverkusen defenders. He only completed one of his four attempted dribbles. He only won two of his eight duels.

"I thought we needed something else," said Mikel Arteta afterwards. Saka was not alone among Arsenal's attacking players in finding it difficult, but his replacement, Noni Madueke, made an immediate impact, his directness ultimately winning the penalty.

"No surprise at all because that's his biggest quality," added Arteta in his press conference. "He's very brave at doing that and is a real threat. To have a player with that ability when you need him, and to step in in the manner that he did, big credit to him."

The competition for places is of course exactly what Arsenal wanted when they brought in Madueke. But Saka's subdued showing on Wednesday night comes as he struggles to meet the extremely high standards he has set in previous campaigns for Arsenal.

Saka's deflected strike against Brighton last week proved invaluable but it was only his second goal in 19 games. With nine goals and five assists across 39 appearances in all competitions, he is producing goal involvements at his lowest rate as an Arsenal starter.

His rate of productivity has in fact nearly halved from last season, when his campaign was interrupted by the hamstring tear he suffered in December. The injury required surgery and put Saka on unfamiliar ground, facing the first major setback of his career.

Arteta may reflect that Saka played too much in the years leading up to that. He was rarely rotated let alone substituted, his importance to the side too great. But it was obvious from his performances that he benefited from the rhythm and regularity.

Saka has of course recovered from the injury. Arsenal's conviction that he will get back to his best is clear in their decision to hand him a new contract making him their highest-paid player only last month. But finding the same rhythm has so far proved difficult.

Saka suffered another hamstring injury in only the second week of the season, forced to come off after scoring in a 5-0 win over Leeds. He had another spell out with a hip injury picked up during the warm-up against the same opponent in January.

In between the two, he was rotated in and out of the side, his workload carefully managed. A sensible approach, no doubt, but one which left Saka in the novel situation of not starting consistently.