Arsenal are facing a mounting injury crisis ahead of two crucial matches this week against Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City. The Gunners are already without several key players after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, and Declan Rice has now emerged as a fresh concern after missing training on Tuesday.
Rice played the full 90 minutes against Bournemouth but was absent from Tuesday's session. Manager Mikel Arteta declined to give details, saying only: "He wasn't available to train." Martin Odegaard also sat out the Bournemouth loss due to a "niggle" picked up in the first leg against Sporting, and he did not train on Tuesday either.
Bukayo Saka has been sidelined since withdrawing from England duty last month and has missed the last two games. Arteta is hopeful of his return but said: "We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how I feel the boys are." Jurrien Timber has been out for almost a month with an ankle problem, and Riccardo Calafiori missed the Bournemouth match for an unspecified reason, also absent from training.
Piero Hincapie, who missed recent games due to an injury sustained during the international break, returned to the matchday squad at the weekend and could start against Sporting. Arteta hinted that one of the injured players might be available for Wednesday's Champions League second leg, which Arsenal lead 1-0.
