Arsenal rocked by injury blow amid Man City title race - 'It's never good news'

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Manchester City's Premier League rivals Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup on Saturday night after a 2-1 defeat to Championship club Southampton.

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta admitted defender Gabriel asked to come off during their 2-1 defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup. The Brazil international is the Gunners' first-choice centre-back alongside William Saliba and started the quarter-final loss at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday night.

However, the 28-year-old came off in the 72nd minute after suffering an injury and Arteta revealed in his press conference that Gabriel requested his substitution. "I don't know, I think he felt something - I don't know exactly what it is," Arteta explained. "We're going to have to assess him.

"Obviously when a player is asking to be substituted, it's never good news." Gabriel's issue is just the latest in a string of injury problems for Arsenal. Piero Hincapie is out for an extended period after being injured on international duty. Eberechi Eze missed the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City and it is unclear when he will return.

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Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka both missed the Southampton loss as their minutes are managed ahead of the run-in. Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard are also being treated for problems. In contrast, City have a relatively clean bill of health.

Defence is their main point of concern with John Stones, Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias suffering injury issues. In their absence, City showed no sign of weakness as they thrashed Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final.

Erling Haaland's hat-trick and an Antoine Semenyo goal secured a comfortable win against Arne Slot's side. The Blues discover their opponents for the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon following the last quarter-final between West Ham and Leeds.

Next up for the Blues is a trip to Chelsea in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Arsenal's depleted squad must travel to Sporting on Tuesday night before hosting Bournemouth next Saturday.