Arsenal have suffered an injury blow that could have a significant bearing on the title race after their Carabao Cup final defeat on Sunday.
Arsenal’s wait for silverware goes on after cup final defeat
Manchester City’s Rodri claims the 2-0 victory at Wembley on Sunday was the perfect way to bounce back from their Champions League elimination by Real Madrid and belief in their title challenge has been restored.
“A lot, a lot,” said the City midfielder when asked if the result could impact the title race. “That’s why I told you it’s a game not only for this title but to show that we can beat them.
“The Madrid game was pretty tough but the team has recovered.
“We knew it was a very important game not only because of the cup but also because we had to face the best team in the league.”
City, who have a game in hand, will face the Gunners again in a potentially pivotal Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on April 19.
They currently have just two games scheduled before then – a postponed fixture against Crystal Palace still needs to be rearranged – while Arsenal will be in action four times.
Rodri said: “It’s clear we didn’t want to go out of the Champions League but we went out and now we have to take the positives, we have more time to prepare for the games.
“There’s still a lot to do but that’s something to take into account – but we also have to celebrate this.
“Now we need to rest, go back for the next round of internationals and come back with the optimism that we still have two more competitions to fight for.”
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Arsenal suffered defeat in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
City needed to weather an early storm at Wembley but largely dominated the contest and took firm control with two headers in quick succession from Nico O’Reilly after an hour.
Rodri said: “I felt like they dropped a bit physically, we detected it and we wanted to go for them.
“You can tell when you have players who are good in the area and Nico O’Reilly has again shown his potential.”
Arsenal suffer William Saliba injury blow
Arsenal are already without captain Martin Ødegaard due to a long term injury, while both Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze missed the cup final.
And Mikel Arteta has now been hit with another concern, with it emerging William Saliba was injured in the final despite playing the full match.
The France international was one of the few Gunners who could hold their heads high after Sunday, but has been withdrawn from the French squad due to ‘recurring pain in his left ankle’ which requires ‘immediate treatment’ and ‘at least’ ten days out of action, report GOAL.
The extent of the damage is unknown at this time, and Arteta will be hoping the situation was not worsened by not spotting the 24 year-old struggling during the 90 minutes.
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Arsenal’s wait for a trophy goes on…