Mikel Arteta has cast doubt on Declan Rice’s involvement when Arsenal face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and is also unsure whether Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz or Mikel Merino will be fit to play.
The Gunners are enduring an unusually sticky patch of form, recently losing to Bournemouth and Newcastle in the Premier League before falling to a Defeat 1-0 against Inter in the Champions League.
Liverpool also left a recent visit to the Emirates Stadium with one well deserved pointalthough Arsenal’s slump in form has coincided with a problem number of injuries to the key players.
Bukayo Saka spent time on the sidelines, alongside Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who only played six minutes of the game. Premier League football 2024/25.
Captain Odegaard has missed two months of action with an ankle injury, returning as a substitute against Inter on Wednesday, while Rice missed that game with a toe problem. As for Havertz and Merino, they were withdrawn at San Siro due to a knock on the head and illness respectively.
“I have to be very vague on this because there is no clarity on whether he will be fit for the weekend,” Arteta told reporters, when asked if Rice would be available for the clash with Chelsea.
“(If he has a broken finger it is) by the doctor, what I can say is that he has not trained yet and it is not clear whether or not he will be available to play.”
The Spaniard was more optimistic about a potential start for Odegaard in west London, saying: “Everyone in the squad will be fit and available to start the game, so then it will be decided whether it’s too soon or the right time for me to take that step again.
“We will have to wait until tomorrow to see how they react,” he concluded when probed about the condition of Havertz and Merino. “Kai had a pretty nasty cut and couldn’t continue. With Mikel, to be fair the day before he wasn’t feeling great and we decided to replace him at half-time.”
Chelsea have their own injury concerns ahead of Arsenal’s visit, with Cole Palmer fighting with knee problem picked up at Manchester United but are in higher spirits than the Gunners in terms of results – Thursday beating Noah 8-0 in the Conference League building with an impressive start to the Premier League season which sees Enzo Maresca’s side ahead of fourth-placed Arsenal.
