Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal beat Mansfield Town 2-1 in the fifth round of the FA Cup to secure passage into the next round. Goals from Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze meant that Will Evans’ equaliser was merely a consolation for the League One outfit.
Who the Premier League table toppers will play in the next round of football’s oldest competition remains to be seen – but it’s a really good chance for Arteta to end his silverware drought.
As a result of being in all four competitions still, the fixtures continue to come thick and fast and a collective sigh of disbelief was let out by those in the away end of the One Call Stadium when Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard were substituted against Mansfield.
Arteta provides Calafiori and Trossard update
Both picked up injuries in their FA Cup encounter but Arteta has provided an update on the two players ahead of their Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen this week.
Speaking to reporters, via Arsenal.com, the Spanish tactician said: “Both of them, they had little niggles, they weren’t comfortable to continue.”
Arteta then admitted that Mansfield’s stodgy pitch always made his players more susceptible to picking up injuries – hence why he opted for a heavily-rotated starting line-up. In fact, they became the first team to field two 16-year-olds in a FA clash.
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“And we knew that this could be a possibility, especially in the conditions that we’re playing today. So, we have to take them off,” Arteta said on Calafiori and Trossard.
The wider injury picture, including Saliba and Odegaard
By virtue of their four-pronged pursuit this season, those associated with Arsenal will be hoping to win at least one piece of silverware come May – but they are being hampered by having a number of first team players nursing injuries.
In terms of William Saliba’s ankle issue, Arteta confirmed that it’s separate to the one he suffered earlier this term. The Frenchman picked up his latest problem in their 2-1 win over Chelsea and ahead of Mansfield as Arteta said:
“No, it’s the other one. We thought the same after the game. He wasn’t comfortable to finish the game and after that away he didn’t have a good feeling. So let’s see if he recovers quickly.”
Club captain Martin Odegaard was also among those who did not feature at all against Mansfield on Saturday lunchtime. Interestingly, Norway manager Stale Solbakken insisted that he’ll be back for Arsenal later in March at the earliest.
“There is nothing serious about Martin. The most important thing is that he recovers completely and is good for us in the summer,” he said while speaking to Viaplay, per The Mirror.
“For those of us who care about the World Cup, it’s not a disaster that he’s getting some breaks now. He’s going to rebuild and be crucial for Arsenal in April-May and maybe late March.”
How could Arsenal line-up against Bayer Leverkusen?
Although Arteta has claimed that both Trossard and Calafiori are suffering from minor injuries, it is unknown whether he’ll risk them against the Bundesliga side in Europe.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka and David Raya are among those expected to come back into the starting line-up for the Gunners – but what about their issues at left-back?
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Should Calafiori not be fit for Wednesday’s encounter, Piero Hincapie and Jaden Dixon – who made his senior debut against Mansfield – may be asked to fill in for the Italian.
If Trossard does not pass the pre-match fitness tests, the two goalscorers against Mansfield (Madueke and Eze) could be relied to operate off the left wing. Elsewhere, Saka could be asked to switch flanks – from right to left.
