Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera were both forced off in the 2-0 win over Brentford but there’s cautious optimism both Rice and potentially William Saliba, could both yet be available for the trip to Aston Villa
Arsenal are optimistic Declan Rice has avoided injury in a major boost ahead of Saturday’s crunch trip to Aston Villa.
The powerhouse midfielder, who was crucial to victory against Brentford on Wednesday night, was forced off with seven minutes left to play due to a calf problem.
Rice was spotted pointing to the back of his calf as he received treatment, however, there was internal confidence last night that the England international was just fatigued following another gruelling shift in the middle of the park.
The 26-year-old was able to walk around the pitch after the full-time whistle to applaud the home crowd and as he left the Emirates Stadium, he also told Sky Sports he was “fine”.
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Rice will still be assessed before Arsenal train on Friday but the current expectation is that he should be available for the trip to Villa Park this weekend despite the swift turnaround.
Mikel Arteta remarked after his side restored their five-point cushion at the Premier League summit: “He [Rice] can walk but he cannot play.”
Arsenal now face a nervous wait to discover whether Cristhian Mosquera has suffered an injury.
The Spain U21 international centre-back appeared to jar his leg in the turf after jumping to contest an aerial duel with forward Kevin Schade.
Initially, he felt some pain in his ankle and later went to ground but upon receiving treatment, he also appeared to have some discomfort around his knee.
Arteta made it clear on Wednesday night that he did not yet know whether Mosquera had suffered an ankle or knee issue, stating: “Yeah, we have to wait and see. It’s probably part of the knee or ankle, we don’t know. He could not really tell us exactly how it was but he wasn’t able to continue.”
William Saliba was watching from behind the Arsenal dugout and there’s hope the Frenchman could return to face Villa to ease Arteta’s centre-back crisis.
The 24-year-old suffered a knock in the final training session before the 1-1 draw at Chelsea and he’s set to face a fitness test before the squad travel to the Midlands on Friday.
Leandro Trossard, too, is facing a race against the clock to prove his fitness in time for the contest after sustaining a calf injury in the 3-1 Champions League victory over Bayern Munich.
Piero Hincapie also suffered a nasty clash of heads with Bees striker Igor Thiago but he was able to complete the full game.
