Arsenal face serious injury concerns ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting CP with Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Julian Timber all absent from training.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka both missed Arsenal training (Image: Nigel French/Allstar, Getty Images)
Arsenal face some serious injury concerns ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting CP. The Gunners hold a slim one-goal lead when they welcome the visitors from Portugal at the Emirates, but will be without their entire squad.
As planned, Arteta gave few details about which players would be available for selection, with Declan Rice conspicuously absent from the north London club’s public training sessions. With the game against Manchester City just around the corner, this is an important moment for the Spanish coach to have his players at his disposal.
Asked if the team will have to contend with discomfort, Arteta replied: “They are trying to do that and we know how important availability is at this critical stage of the season.”
“Obviously we’ve been missing four or five starting pitchers the last few weeks and that’s affected us. So we need to get them back, that’s for sure.”
Mirror Football examines when Arsenal’s sidelined stars are fit to play again.
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Declan Rice
Declan Rice was absent from Arsenal’s training ahead of the game against Sporting CP, but Arteta has said little about his possible return. The number of games the midfielder is required to play seems to be taking a toll.
“I don’t want to do that,” Arteta said at a press conference. “We’ll have to keep an eye on him tomorrow, but obviously he wasn’t fit to train.
“Yes, he has played a lot of games and that is part of the problem,” Arteta added. “But he will try to do everything he can to be with us tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Expected return date: unknown.
Declan Rice’s condition unknown (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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Martin Odegaard
The Denmark international suffered trouble in the first leg against Sporting and is yet to return. The Gunners captain was absent from training ahead of the Champions League match.
Odegaard’s knee complaints had previously been characterized as mild symptoms.
Possible return date: April 19 against Manchester City.
Riccardo Calafioli
Riccardo Calafioli played the full 90 minutes in the first leg against Sporting but was not included in Arsenal’s matchday squad against Bournemouth. The Italian defender did not participate in Tuesday’s training as there was little information regarding his injury.
Given that he has not played consecutive Premier League games since December, his game time may simply be carefully managed.
Expected return date: April 19th vs. Manchester City
Riccardo Calafioli is struggling with injury (Image: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Bukayo Saka
England international Bukayo Saka is battling an Achilles tendon problem that has been bothering him for several weeks. Arteta said he missed training on Tuesday but is close to returning.
However, the Arsenal manager admitted that Saka has not experienced any setbacks.
“This is his progress, but I hope it will be a matter of days rather than weeks,” Arteta said. “But we have to see how he reacts to such advances when we put more loads on him.”
Possible return date: April 19 against Manchester City.
julian timber
The Dutch defender was also absent from training on Tuesday, but Arteta hinted that either Saka or Timber could be available for the match against Sporting. Given that Saka still has “a few days” to go, perhaps Timber’s return becomes more likely.
Possible return date: April 15th against Sporting CP.
Mikel Merino
The Spanish midfielder hopes to return ahead of schedule, but is still unlikely to feature before the end of the season. Merino has now hung up his protective boot and is responding positively to the surgery, Arteta confirmed ahead of the game against Bournemouth.
“He’s also someone who tries to push all boundaries,” Arteta said. “He’s out of his boots and has already practiced quite a bit.
“He responded very well to the surgery and didn’t have any pain. The medical staff should take it a little further. But I’m sure there’s a chance to shorten that period. If there’s anyone who can do that, it’ll be Mikel again.”
Possible return date: May 24th.
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