William Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard latest return dates

Arsenal are facing a mounting injury crisis as Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori join a lengthy absentee list including William Saliba and Martin Odegaard ahead of their Champions League fixture.

Arsenal’s trophy ambitions suffered a blow following a costly FA Cup victory at Mansfield.

Key duo Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori were forced off with suspected hip and hamstring issues respectively, leaving Mikel Arteta sweating over their availability for Tuesday’s clash against Bayer Leverkusen.

With William Saliba and Ben White already sidelined, the Gunners’ defensive depth is being pushed to the absolute limit.

Club captain Martin Odegaard remains a significant absentee, with Norway boss Stale Solbakken suggesting a return in late March or April.

“The most important thing is that he recovers completely,” Solbakken noted. Meanwhile, Mikel Merino’s season may be over following foot surgery.

Arteta remains cautious regarding his stars, stating: “Both of them had little niggles, they weren’t comfortable continuing. We had to take them off.”