Arsenal travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime, but there is optimism Declan Rice has avoided injury on a night when centre-back Cristian Mosquera also limped off.
Arsenal and Declan Rice are optimistic the England midfielder has avoided a calf injury despite limping off against Brentford.
The powerful midfielder, who ran himself into the ground during the 2-0 win over the Bees, crashed into the deck late in the game and was sent off with seven minutes remaining.
Rice was seen pointing to the back of his calf as he received treatment, but there was an internal belief last night that the 26-year-old was simply suffering from fatigue after another grueling all-action show in the center of the park.
After the match, the former West Ham captain walked around the pitch with his teammates and was able to applaud Arsenal supporters after the Gunners regained five points at the top of the Premier League.
As he left the Emirates Stadium, Rice told Sky Sports News he would be tested before Arsenal’s training on Friday before heading to Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime, but he also said he felt “fine”.
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Mikel Arteta’s squad are set to have one light training session before their trip to the Midlands, with centre-back Cristian Mosquera facing a nervous wait to find out if he is ready to play on the sidelines.
The Spain Under-21 defender appeared to hit his foot on the grass after jumping to compete for an aerial ball with Brentford attacker Kevin Shade. Although there was no contact with the German international, Mosquera was initially seen hobbling around the pitch with pain in his ankle.
He also felt some discomfort in his knee while undergoing treatment, and Arteta later revealed in a press conference that there was an element of confusion as to whether Mosquera was suffering from an ankle or knee problem.
“Well, we’ll have to wait and see. Maybe it’s the knee or part of the ankle, but we don’t know. He couldn’t tell us exactly what it was, but he couldn’t continue,” he said.
William Saliba was seen shaking his head as Mosquera left the field, and Arsenal will be hoping he can prove his suitability ahead of this weekend’s trip to Villa.
The 24-year-old suffered a knock during his final training session before last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea and is yet to train since.
Belgian forward Leandro Trossard is also progressing towards a return, but it remains to be seen whether he will be available this weekend after sustaining a calf injury in the 3-1 Champions League win against Bayern Munich.
Defender Piero Hincapie also suffered a nasty collision of heads with Bees striker Igor Thiago, but was able to play the full game.
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