"We knew": Mikel Arteta delivers big injury update on two Arsenal stars before Leverkusen game

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided a big injury update on Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori ahead of the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie at Bayer Leverkusen.

The Gunners progressed to the FA Cup quarter-final after a 2-1 win over Mansfield Town on the road yesterday. Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were the goalscorers for the north London giants.

Trossard and Calafiori were both picked in the starting XI, but were substituted with evident issues.

The former was subbed off during the back end of the opening half with an injury, while Calafiori was forced off in the 76th minute. The Italian was struggling with a hamstring concern.

Speaking after the victory, Arteta said that both players had ‘little niggles’ and were not comfortable continuing.

He told reporters (via Arsenal.com): “Both of them, they had little niggles, they weren’t comfortable to continue.

“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.”

Arsenal were fancied to secure a comfortable victory over Mansfield away from home, but they had to work hard for the result. It was far from a cakewalk. The Gunners had to earn the win.

The injuries to Trossard and Calafiori were untimely, but it did not seem concerning. With Arteta describing both issues as ‘little niggles’, the duo could be fit in time to face Leverkusen.

The Gunners take on Leverkusen in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday night. They will obviously travel to Germany on Tuesday, and the squad will be revealed by then.

Aside from Trossard and Calafiori, Arsenal have a big decision to make about the fitness of William Saliba, Ben White and Martin Odegaard before the midweek European encounter.

Among the trio, Saliba seems the likely candidate to return. The Frenchman missed the Brighton & Hove Albion game with a minor ankle issue and was probably rested on Saturday.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com

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