Arsenal travel to Belgium later today as they prepare for Wednesday evening’s Champions League group phase clash with Club Brugge
Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba were all absent from Arsenal’s open training session ahead of their Champions League trip to Club Brugge.
The Gunners are bidding to make it six wins from six in Europe when they face the Belgian outfit, who have just parted company with boss Nicky Hayen after three defeats in four league matches.
Nonetheless, it appears Arsenal’s numbers could be depleted for the trip across the Channel as Mikel Arteta is facing late calls on the fitness of both Rice and Trossard.
It’s understood the pair were working indoors whilst their team-mates trained on the grass and Arteta will have to decide whether the duo will travel.
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Given Arsenal are already on the cusp of sealing a top-eight finish, the Gunners are not under any burning pressure to win the contest as they also face Inter Milan and Kairat Almaty before the conclusion of the group phase.
Still, they won’t want to make a mess of things, therefore we can still expect Arteta to field a strong XI even though changes are anticipated.
Saliba has now missed Arsenal’s past three matches with what Arteta described as a “knock” after the 1-1 draw at Chelsea.
The Frenchman will seemingly not be ready to face Brugge even though Arteta recently reiterated that the centre-back was just “days away” from being back fit.
Arsenal’s ranks in training were bolstered by a number of youth stars on Tuesday afternoon when Josh Nichols, Louie Copley, Marli Salmon and Marcell Washington all trained.
Copley captains Arsenal’s U21s while Nichols and Salmon were both involved in the club’s pre-season tour of Asia during the summer.
Salmon is pushing to be involved against Brugge after being named on the bench in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa last weekend.
He is rated incredibly highly within the club and is part of Arsenal’s UEFA B List squad.
Supporters should get a clue whether any youngsters will be involved in Bruges on Wednesday afternoon when the U19s lineup is published ahead of their UEFA Youth League meeting against Brugge.
Arsenal are particularly light on the ground at the heart of defence with Gabriel Magalhaes, Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera all currently sidelined through injury.
