Arsenal have reportedly been dealt two devastating injury blows with William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who have been ruled out for the rest of the season with back and calf injuries respectively.
The Gunners have been working without key centre-back Saliba since the France international came off with his back issue against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League two months ago.
Meanwhile, Zinchenko was unable to complete the full 90 minutes against Newcastle United due to a calf problem, coming off on the 61-minute mark to be replaced by Kieran Tierney.
No update was given on Zinchenko's condition after the game at St James' Park, which Arsenal won 2-0 thanks to Martin Odegaard's strike and a Fabian Schar own goal.
However, The Athletic reports that both men will not be available for Arsenal's final three games of the season, starting with Sunday's visit of Brighton & Hove Albion to the Emirates Stadium.
© Reuters
The Gunners will then take to the road for the final time this season to meet Nottingham Forest on May 20 before welcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers to North London on May 28.
The report adds that neither man is expected to undergo surgery, but news of their season-ending injuries is crushing for Mikel Arteta, who still has the Gunners in contention to pip Manchester City to the title.
A springtime blip saw Arsenal lose their grip on first place, and the North London outfit sit one point behind the reigning champions, who could extend that lead to four should they win their game in hand.
The Gunners therefore need to hope for City to slip up at least twice in their remaining fixtures with Everton, Brighton, Chelsea and Brentford to clinch a first crown since the Invincibles of 2003-04, but Arteta will have to navigate his side's final trio of fixtures without two key defensive cogs.
After waiting three years to make his competitive debut for Arsenal, Saliba became a mainstay in Arteta's backline this season, scoring twice and providing one assist from 27 successive Premier League starts before entering the infirmary.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Zinchenko has scored one goal and set up two more in 27 Premier League outings since his summer move from Manchester City, although he has already missed 12 games through a combination of calf and knee problems.
Rob Holding and Jakub Kiwior have covered for Saliba alongside Gabriel Magalhaes over the past several weeks, and Arteta recently admitted that the 22-year-old was not recovering as quickly as initially hoped.
Arteta has consistently refused to rule Saliba out for the rest of the season, but the recently introduced Kiwior will now expect to see out the campaign in the backline, having forced his way in over Holding to the bench for the Gunners' recent wins over Chelsea and Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Tierney - whose time at the Emirates has also been plagued by injuries - will deputise for Zinchenko in the coming weeks amid talk of a possible exit in the summer, having immediately been demoted to second choice upon the Ukrainian's arrival.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are also missing for the rest of the season with knee problems, but the latter has returned to individual training as he aims for a comeback in pre-season.
Ben Knapton
