Declan Rice is set to miss Arsenal’s crucial Premier League game against Aston Villa this evening due to a suspected knee injury. The England midfielder picked up an injury in last week’s game against Brighton and is now expected to miss Tuesday night’s game against the Emirates.
He was not seen in practice before the game, and will be absent as a precautionary measure to avoid further aggravation of the injury. Arsenal hope his absence will be short-lived, but the £100m man will be a big missed opportunity for the north Londoners with a game against Villa effectively giving them six points for the league leaders.
Rice played in 17 Premier League games, scoring two goals and providing four assists, helping Mikel Arteta’s side rise to the top of the table. Arsenal go into tonight’s game just three points behind Villa after losing to the Midlands club at Villa Park on December 6th.
Rice has not missed a single Premier League game for the Gunners this season and started at right-back against Brighton due to a defensive injury. The only league game in which the 26-year-old did not start was the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in September, when he played the final 22 minutes off the bench.
With Rice unavailable, Arteta is likely to bring Gabriel, Ben White or Piero Hincapie back into the starting eleven. The midfield three could remain the same as they did in the win against Brighton: Martin Zvimendi, Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino.
Speaking ahead of Villa’s visit to the Emirates, Arteta said: “That’s what we want, every opponent that comes here suffers. We were as dominant as we were today for the majority of the game and it’s going to be a really tough game against Villa, we know what they’re doing and it’s going to be a beautiful game to prepare for and play as well.”
Speaking about the defeat against Villa earlier this month, the Spanish coach added: “There are some ideas and things we need to improve on, and the way we lost was very brutal, but yes, we learned from it.
“Look at what Villa are doing and how consistent they are and what Unai has done at the club. I think they deserve plenty of credit because they are doing it on the pitch where they have to show their level.”
