Eberechi Eze injury latest after Arsenal heartache and England squad withdrawal

After he was forced to sit out of the League Cup final, an update on Eberechi Eze's injury was issued by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta at Wembley

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted it may take as long as seven days to understand the extent of Eberechi Eze's injury. The midfielder had been rediscovering his best form for the north Londoners in recent weeks.

He scored a fantastic goal in the Gunners' recent triumph over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and had earned a place in Thomas Tuchel's recent England squad. However, he has picked up a calf injury which forced him to sit out Arsenal's League Cup final loss to Manchester City.

Eze, 27, has also had to pull out of the Three Lions' friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. After the Gunners were beaten 2-0 by City at Wembley, Arteta admitted they are in the dark regarding the seriousness of his injury.

When asked if Eze's injury was a serious one heading into the final run-in of matches in the Premier League title race, Arteta replied: "We have to do another scan in six or seven days and wait to see the results."

Before the final, Arteta appeared to suggest the injury was not too serious. He made it clear it was touch and go on whether Eze would be fit to face Pep Guardiola's side in the capital.

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When asked about the ex-Crystal Palace hitman's absence, Arteta said: "We tried everything [to get him fit for the game], but unfortunately he, Martin [Odegaard], Jurrien [Timber] and Mikel [Merino] are out.”

Arsenal could have done with having Eze in their line-up as they struggled to create many chances against the Cityzens. They were downed by a surprise brace from City youngster Nico O'Reilly, who capitalised on a missed catch from Kepa Arrizabalaga to open the scoring, before guiding in a header minutes later to wrap up the victory.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Arsenal, who had been targeting an unprecedented quadruple triumph before the match.

After the loss, a frustrated Arteta said: "There were different moments in the game. In the first half I think we had some really good moments and I think we were the better team, we had the biggest chance of the game by far that we should have been 1-0 up and that would have changed the course of the game.

"In the second half we had, especially in the first 18-20 minutes, some issues to get out from that block, to press them better and especially to manage the ball when we regained it much better than when we did. Then we conceded the ball in a really unexpected manner obviously and three minutes later they scored another one in similar conditions to that.

"That's something you have to give credit to the opposition as well when they are so good in these periods and they capitalise on that, we had our periods, we didn't and then we have to accept that."

After the international break, Arsenal travel to face Championship side Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup before facing Sporting in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. They will hope to be able to call on Eze for both matches, with the fixtures quickly stacking up after the break.