Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard could miss Bayern Munich v Arsenal

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard require late fitness tests (Picture: Getty)

Mikel Arteta is ‘hopeful’ that Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard will be able to face Bayern Munich – but was unable to confirm if they will definitely play.

Arsenal fans will be desperate to see the duo in action for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern on Wednesday and their potential absence would be a major blow given their importance to the team.

Saka was seen limping towards the end of Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa while Odegaard was unable to complete the match and was subbed off.

Speaking after that loss, a huge blow to Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League title, Arteta said that Odegaard felt ‘something’ and couldn’t continue.

Ahead of the Gunners’ second-leg clash against Bayern – with the score locked at 2-2 after the first meeting at the Emirates – Arteta has provided a fresh injury update on both Saka and Odegaard, confirming they’ll need late fitness tests.

‘We had less than 48 hours to recover from the game [against Villa],’ Arteta said on Tuesday.

‘We have done very, very little training – so we will assess them tomorrow and see how they are.’

The first meeting between Arsenal and Bayern Munich ended in a draw (Picture: Getty)

Arteta is adamant that the 2-0 defeat to Villa will have ‘no impact’ on the team ahead of their clash against Bayern at the Allianz Arena.

‘We threw the game away [but] regardless of that result, it’s going to have no impact on what happens tomorrow,’ Arteta added.

‘We’ll refocus and start to build the confidence and the trust [to get] the standard of performance we’ll have to put in tomorrow to beat them.’

Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel believes his side have a ‘slight advantage’ over Arsenal in the second leg.

‘We have a slight advantage when you look at our experience in this competition,’ Tuchel said. ‘But to turn it into a real advantage, you also need a top performance. We’re ready to give it everything we’ve go.

‘We’ll need everything again. We’ll need passion and the same tactical discipline as in the first leg. We really want to win this game. It’ll be extremely important that every fan comes to support and push us.’

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