Arsenal hit with two more major injury concerns after Carabao Cup final defeat | Football

The injury concerns are piling up for Mikel Arteta in the wake of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final defeat with two more key players pulling out of international duty.

With skipper Martin Odegaard and in-form playmaker Eberechi Eze missing Sunday’s Wembley showpiece, the Arsenal boss can ill-afford to be without any more of his frontline stars heading into the run-in.

There is an expectation that Odegaard, who has missed the last seven matches in all competitions, will return in time to be in contention for the FA Cup quarter-final against Southampton in a fortnight’s time.

The picture on Eze is a ittle less clear, however, with Arteta revealing after the damaging 2-0 defeat by City that the England star will require a further scan on calf problem next week.

William Saliba, meanwhile, opted out of the France squad on Sunday with an ankle injury and his central defensive partner in crime, Gabriel Magalhaes, will now miss Brazil’s upcoming games against France and Croatia.

The 28-year-old is said to have a knee injury and Arteta will hope the setback is not too serious given his importance to the side.

Leandro Trossard, who has been struggling with a calf injury of late, will also have a fortnight to recover after he withdrew from Belgium’s squad ahead of friendlies with USA and Mexico.

Arsenal 0-2 Man City – Metro at the Match

Manchester City have secured the first silverware of the season after Arsenal failed to deliver at Wembley.

The quadruple dream is over and the Gunners must now pick up the pieces after a sobering setback.

For City, it has breathed life into their campaign after a dismal Champions League exit this week.

Kepa gamble backfires spectacularly

Mikel Arteta decided to keep faith in Kepa Arrizabalaga after starting the Spaniard in each round of the competition leading up to the final at Wembley today.

Pep Guardiola did likewise with James Trafford, but it was Arsenal who paid the price for dropping one of their best players. From the moment the second-half kicked off, Kepa dallied on the ball, inviting the pressure that would inevitably swarm all over the Gunners and trigger their downfall.

Raya has been spectacular this season, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League by some margin and in sublime form. Had he started, Sunday may have been a very different story.

Old Arsenal fears reignited

We have seen Arsenal collapse in the past. Past failures have so often been used as a stick to beat them with but things have felt different this season.

Victory today would have gone some way in erasing the lingering fears over another derailment . But defeat at Wembley could serve as a catalyst for something much bleaker.

Arsenal are still fighting on three fronts, in control of the Premier League title race and well-placed to continue marching on in Europe. But the effects of today could be season-altering. The woeful second-half showing was as bad as anything served up by them this term on the stage where they needed to be their best.

O’Reilly steps up

City needed a hero at Wembley and they found a home-grown one. With Phil Foden only coming on as an injury time substitute, left-back O’Reilly stepped up as City’s savour with two headers to save their season.

City were fantastic in the second period to a man and fed off Arsenal’s apprehension but it was the 21-year-old set the standard when they needed inspiration.  

Tony Mogan, live sports editor

Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are due to link up with England next week having been granted a week off by Thomas Tuchel, but Ben White has been added to the Three Lions squad, which also includes Noni Madueke, for the first time since his decision leave the last World Cup in Qatar early following a fall out with the previous regime.

Arsenal are now not back in action until their trip to St Mary’s on April 4 and Arteta will be desperate to see his side bounce back from missing their chance to end a six-year trophy drought.

‘It’s hard because everyone as a player really wanted it today and I know the supporters wanted it,’ said the Arsenal boss.

‘The fact that we haven’t managed to deliver it is very, very painful. 

‘We’ve had a remarkable eight months together, and now there’s an international break.

‘We all go into there with a very hard feeling and pain, and we’re going to use that as fuel for the next two months.

‘We keep going. It’s painful not to give them what they are hoping for and what they are cheering for, but we’ll recover from that and go again.’

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