"Congratulations to Man City", "Ten Hags fault" - Arsenal fans express their frustration as 2 key players to miss rest of season through injury

Arsenal fans are in despair after William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko were ruled out for the rest of the season. Gunners fans are laying the blame on Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag and have conceded the title to Manchester City.

The Athletic's David Ornstein reports that Saliba will not recover from a back injury before the season ends. The French defender has been out of action since March 16 when he picked up the injury in his side's UEFA Europa League exit to Sporting CP.

Arsenal's title challenge has taken a major setback since Saliba's absence. They have won four of eight league games and suffered a 4-1 defeat at title rivals City. They now trail the Cityzens by a point having played a game more with three matches remaining.

Meanwhile, Ornstein reports that Zinchenko picked up a calf problem in the Gunners' 2-0 win over Newcastle United last Sunday (May 7). The Ukrainian will now miss the rest of the campaign. He has been key to Mikel Arteta's side this season, but the North Londoners' title hopes are going up in flames.

Many Arsenal fans are pointing the finger at Ten Hag. The Red Devils boss claimed that Arteta's side haven't had to deal with the same injury problems as the Old Trafford outfit. He said in March:

"I see Arsenal. They almost have all the time a squad that is totally available."

The Gunners have since endured injuries to Saliba, Zinchenko, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Their title challenge has taken a major hit, and one fan blames Ten Hag, tweeting:

"Ten Hag's fault (on my life)."

Another fan has already conceded the Premier League title to City:

"Congratulations to Man City for winning the EPL."

Here's how Twitter reacted to Saliba and Zinchenko being ruled out for the rest of the season:

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta responded to Erik ten Hag's claims about injuries

Mikel Arteta's side have dealt with injury problems this season.

Arsenal boss Arteta responded to Ten Hag's claims about his side's lack of injury issues by providing a list of absentees:

"We’ve been carrying injuries throughout the season, We had Emile (Smith Rowe) out for four months, Gabriel Jesus out for four months, Alex (Zinchenko) for two and half months, Thomas (Partey) for a month and a half, Eddie (Nketiah) for a month and a half."

The Gunners were surging towards the league title at the turn of the year. They held an eight-point cushion over City on January 18. They had accrued 50 points from 19 games at the halfway point of the campaign but have run out of steam.

However, consecutive draws against West Ham United, Liverpool and Southampton plunged their title aspirations into jeopardy. They will now pray for an unlikely collapse from the Cityzens in the dying embers of the season.