Martin Ødegaard, William Saliba & Ben Whiteplaceholder image
Martin Ødegaard, William Saliba & Ben White | Getty Images
The latest Arsenal injury news ahead of their game against Mansfield Town - including an update on William Saliba.
Arsenal will hope to take a step towards their first trophy in six years when they face League One side Mansfield Town in the FA Cup fifth round this Saturday – but Mikel Arteta may have his options limited by injury.
The Gunners have been hobbled by intermittent injury issues in recent weeks and the latest player to go down is key centre-back William Saliba, who was a surprise omission from the side that defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 on Wednesday evening. The Frenchman is now one of four players who are known to be out or doubts for the Mansfield match, with club captain Martin Ødegaard and defender Ben White among the others who could miss out.
With kick-off approaching, we’ve collected all of the latest Arsenal injury news below, along with the potential absentees’ expected return dates when available.
How long will William Saliba be out for?
Centre-half William Saliba was unexpectedly left out of the squad to face Brighton due to an ankle injury which Arteta had chosen to keep under wraps prior to kick-off – and it remains unclear just how long he could be sidelined.
“He turned his ankle against Chelsea,” Arteta told the press after the match at the Amex Stadium. “He managed to finish the game somehow, but he was too sore to play today.”
There are currently no indications that Saliba is likely to face a lengthy lay-off, but there is every chance that he is not risked for the FA Cup tie against Mansfield, with his replacement on Wednesday night, Cristhian Mosquera, perhaps more likely to play.
Assuming that Arsenal are not downplaying the severity of the issue, the club will hope that he is recalled to the squad in time to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League next week.
Martin Ødegaard & Ben White among Arsenal’s FA Cup doubts
There is also a strong likelihood that captain Martin Ødegaard is left out of the squad on Saturday – the Norwegian midfielder has missed the last two games due to a recurrence of a knee injury initially sustained while playing against Brentford in February.
Ødegaard is expected to return to training within the next week but is unlikely to be pushed back into action too quickly, making his participation against Mansfield relatively unlikely.
There is also doubt over the availability of Ben White, who is still “not available” according to Arteta following an undisclosed injury. No timeline for his return has been made public, but there are no immediate indications that he will be back in time to play at Field Mill.
The only other player expected to miss out through injury is midfielder Mikel Merino, who may not play again this season after undergoing surgery on a broken foot. It remains possible that he makes a May comeback and features in the final games of the season, but that’s an optimistic assessment. Max Dowman, meanwhile, has recovered from a recent injury and was on the bench against Brighton – he could get his first senior minutes since November this weekend.