Arsenal stars William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Saliba had suffered a back injury during the defeat to Sporting Lisbon in the Last 16 of the Europa League. The French defender has not been able to return to the pitch since he went off early into the second leg, with the Gunners losing the tie on penalties.
Zinchenko, meanwhile, was forced off during the win over Newcastle last Sunday with a calf problem. That issue now appears to be more serious than expected, with the Ukrainian now sidelined along with Saliba for the final three games of the Premier League season.
Scotland international Kieran Tierney is expected to step into Zinchenko's boots at left-back. Rob Holding had taken Saliba's place in central defence, but the Englishman has since lost his starting spot to January signing Jakub Kiwior.
Having endured a four game winless run after Saliba's injury, which allowed Manchester City to overtake them in the title race, Arsenal had got their season back on track. Wins against Chelsea and Newcastle have seen them close the gap on City to one point.
Pep Guardiola's men do have a game in hand though and the news that Mikel Arteta will have to do without two of his star players is a bitter blow. The news that Saliba has been ruled out will come as little surprise, with Arteta having already admitted the Frenchman's recovery has not progressed as hoped.
But the extent of Zinchenko's injury is a shock, especially as the left-back has been so crucial to Arsenal's style of play this term. The Gunners host Brighton on Sunday in their next Premier League outing.
Arteta will be hoping he is not hit with any further issues ahead of the clash with the high-flying Seagulls. Ahead of the win over Newcastle, he had insisted his side would be able to deal with the missing men in defence.
"Not a lot of progress, he’s feeling better every single day but he’s still not been able to have any activity around the first-team, so we don’t expect him to be with us," Arteta said of Saliba last week.
"We are not yet there today, because we are always hopeful and players are always pushing to play but if that is the case then we will announce that. Hopefully that will not be the case.
"The ones that we’ve had, probably with the exception of Saliba which was a really nasty impact, have been more traumatic than anything else. We wouldn’t put that down to the World Cup or the amount of stress or games that they have to play - I wouldn’t say it’s that.
"We can’t control certain things, we have to accept that and that’s why we have other players who can fulfil those roles. We try to help them and support them as much as possible, don’t look for too many excuses and just find the right solutions to win matches."
