Saka, Odegaard, Merino - Arsenal injury news and return dates after Chelsea win

Arsenal have some injury concerns to deal with after defeating Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final

Arsenal still have some players on their injury list after their win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final. The Gunners recorded a 1-0 win in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium, with Kai Havertz on the score sheet in stoppage time.

The win means that Mikel Arteta’s side have booked their place in the Carabao Cup final, where they will face either Manchester City or Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium next month.

Arsenal were without four players for the win over Chelsea on Tuesday night, with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Max Dowman all absent from the matchday squad for the game.

As a result, Arteta and Co. will be hoping that the injury list improves ahead of their Premier League clash against Sunderland this weekend.

Here, football.london takes a look at Arsenal’s current injury list and potential return dates...

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Bukayo Saka

Bukayo Saka suffered an injury during the warm-up before Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Leeds United in the Premier League last weekend.

Saka missed the victory at Elland Road, and was subsequently unavailable for the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea on Tuesday evening.

Arteta expressed optimism that Saka will be able to return for Arsenal in the near future.

"He's OK, we need to have more tests tomorrow to understand how he is," Arteta said.

"This game was too [soon] but let's hope that it is not too much."

Potential return date: Saturday, February 7 - Sunderland (H) - Premier League.

Martin Odegaard

Martin Odegaard missed Arsenal’s win over Chelsea on Tuesday night.

As football.london has reported, this was as a precaution and not a major injury. Arteta will hope to have the club captain available for the return of the Premier League this weekend.

"During the [Leeds] game he felt a little niggle," Arteta told Sky Sports. "We tried yesterday but he wasn't comfortable so let's see if he's available for the weekend hopefully."

Potential return date: Saturday, February 7 - Sunderland (H) - Premier League.

Mikel Merino

Mikel Merino suffered a foot injury during Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United at the end of last month, and will require surgery before returning to full fitness.

“Obviously, he needs to go through a procedure, which is never always positive,” Arteta said earlier this week.

“He's a big player for us. An athlete that has such versatility and capacity to compete in various positions. Yeah, that's a big blow.”

Potential return date: April/May.

Max Dowman

Max Dowman is continuing to recover from an ankle injury he picked up back in December.

Arteta recently offered an update on the teenager, with the Arsenal boss expressing caution in rushing Dowman back too soon.

“He’s growing and we need to be very careful and a little more protective,” Arteta said last month.

“He has a different schedule as well because he needs to go to school, so we need to respect a lot of things throughout that process.

“But I think he’s quite close. He’s on the pitch now, he’s doing well and hopefully we’re going to be able to see him soon.”

Potential return date: Unknown