Arsenal have been hit with injury setbacks during the international break ahead of the Gunners resuming their bid to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League
Mikel Arteta is facing an injury crisis at Arsenal
Arsenal are next in action against Southampton in the FA Cup following the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City, but Mikel Arteta’s side have been hit by an injury crisis.
The high flying Gunners sit top of the Premier League with nine points separating them and chasing City – who have a game in hand – and they are also still in Champions League contention, with a tie against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the quarter-finals next week.
Yet during the international break, Arteta has been handed some worrying injury setbacks and Declan Rice is among the affected, after he withdrew from Thomas Tuchel’s England squad. Here’s all the latest news from the Emirates.
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Arsenal’s 11 injury updates
The Gunners have witnessed a substantial number of their players pull out of international duty during this break, including four who were originally selected for Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, reports the Mirror.
Eberechi Eze withdrew before Friday’s 1-1 draw against Uruguay, while Noni Madueke picked up a knee problem while featuring for the Three Lions in the friendly.
The Athletic now reports that Madueke will be absent for the Southampton encounter and remains doubtful for the subsequent Champions League fixture against Sporting CP.
Both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice departed the England camp on Saturday. Discussing all three players, manager Tuchel stated: “The risk for making it worse was clearly too big, they were both in discomfort, clearly in discomfort when we did the medical assessments.
“So it made no sense for them to stay. Everyone will be out for quite some days but not dramatically. The assessment then, with the picture, is slightly better than his feeling, but he will be out for some days.”
Tuchel admitted the fact 11 Arsenal players had withdrawn from international duty looked “suspicious”, but insisted there were no doubts over the honesty of the quartet of Three Lions stars to pull out.
They join Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, William Saliba, Gabriel, Jurrien Tumber, Piero Hancapie and Martin Zubimendi in withdrawing from international duty.
Tuchel said: “Everyone can do the math and it’s a lot of players, of course. During the situation, it looks a bit suspicious but I can only talk for our players.
“I still have 100% trust in the honesty of Bukayo and Declan. We did medical tests. I saw them. I have no reason to believe that Declan is not honest with me. I have no reason to believe Bukayo is not honest.
“But given the amount of Arsenal players, I understand the look.”
Tuchel admitted Madueke may face a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
He said: “Noni is out for some days and maybe some weeks. Everybody will be out for quite some days but not dramatically. It’s disappointing, but I’m not upset with the players, I’m not angry with the players.
“I got the feeling that everyone was desperate to come. Some of the injured players even stayed to start their treatment here. That just shows me they want to be around the group.
“No one left straight away. Everyone stayed, had another dinner, had another night, had another breakfast, because it’s a good spirit and that’s how it should be.
“I’m not sure if I want to give the nature of the injuries away. I think Arsenal would not be happy but Declan feels a discomfort since quite a while, and he’s playing through it, and he’s just now on the edge. It’s the same with Bukayo.
“He played in pain through the Carabao final and we could see that he had not the same impact that he wishes to have for his club against Man City.
“You can see it and he confirmed it straight away. He tried with treatment in the three days to get rid of it and be ready but it’s just too much of pain. We will not push players now who are at 70 per cent through a friendly match.”
CBS Sports suggests Hincapie, who was sent back from Ecuador duty, will also likely be absent for the FA Cup match, leaving Arteta fretting over the Sporting game and their forthcoming Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
Norway boss Stale Solbakken reports the sidelined Odegaard is making good headway in his recovery from a knee problem.
The manager told Dagbladet: “When he will be ready, I don’t know. But it is good progress.”
Declan Rice’s England team-mate speaks up
Although Rice won’t get to don an England jersey this break, sitting out the Uruguay game after being granted an extended rest period, one of his midfield colleagues has lauded him.
Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson has revealed what it’s like to share the pitch with the Arsenal ace, who he says has made him feel at home off the field. He said: “It’s a really good partnership, he’s made me comfortable.
“The relationship on the pitch is really good. I’m trying to learn from the way he plays, bits of advice, putting his arm around me, building the relationship.”
