Arsenal face ‘big miss’ in fresh injury blow as Mikel Arteta told reality of situation
Declan Rice was forced off the field with a calf injury during the second half of Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Brentford at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes Arsenal’s biggest test now lies in managing without Declan Rice. The midfielder appeared to suffer a calf problem during the closing stages of Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Brentford at the Emirates Stadium.
He limped off seven minutes from time, and Viktor Gyokeres took his place. Commenting on the move, Mikel Arteta commented: “Obviously it’s never good news. Declan had to go out. We don’t know. We have to see tomorrow what he has. He can walk. He can’t play.
“The fact is he played a lot of minutes, but now we played Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well.”
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Arsenal are already struggling with numerous fitness issues, with Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz all on the treatment table.
Rice and Cristhian Mosquera became the most recent casualties after going off during the Brentford clash.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Murphy highlighted that the Gunners will now face a real examination following their recent injuries.
“Brentford did well in the second half, but Arsenal’s strength and depth is really, really good and that’s going to be tested now with the injuries we’ve seen,” remarked the 48-year-old.
Presenter Gabby Logan then added: “Unbeaten in 18 in all competitions, eight games out of ten with a clean sheet, but when you lost Saliba, Gabriel, Mosquera are off tonight, Rice is out tonight too.
“It looks like this is going to be one of the most testing times for them in terms of maintaining that relentlessness and challenge.”
Murphy praised the backline’s performance in the circumstances, while pointing out that Arsenal would face a major test of their depth if Rice was absent against third-placed Aston Villa on Saturday.
“They’ve covered the defense pretty well lately when they’ve had injuries, and I think Saliba is close to coming back, so it’s not that big of a problem,” he added.
“We haven’t seen this Arsenal team cope without Rice yet, so if he has a calf injury it’s a problem and we’ll see how they adapt to that.
“It will be a big miss if he misses for the Aston Villa game on Saturday.”
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