Mikel Arteta is concerned that Arsenal’s growing injury list could hinder their quest for the Premier League title after Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera were injured in the 2-0 victory over Brentford on Wednesday.
Thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka, Arteta’s team has widened their lead over Manchester City to five points at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have now maintained an 18-game unbeaten streak across all competitions, marking their eighth consecutive home win.
However, Arteta faced challenges as first-choice defenders Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are sidelined due to injuries, and now Spanish defender Mosquera had to leave the field just before halftime.
Even more concerning, England’s midfielder Declan Rice seemed to have a calf issue as he was substituted 10 minutes before the match ended.
“Obviously, it’s never good news. Declan had to come off. We need to assess his condition tomorrow,” said Arteta, who is also missing Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard due to injuries.
“Declan can walk but cannot play. He’s played many minutes, and now we have a Wednesday night game followed by a Saturday morning match.”
With Arsenal enduring a tough week with victories over Tottenham and Bayern Munich and a draw with Chelsea, Arteta chose to rest Saka, Jurrien Timber, and Eberechi Eze against Brentford.
However, all three were needed off the bench, prompting Arteta to lament Arsenal’s injury woes and question the Premier League’s scheduling ahead of a challenging away match against Aston Villa on Saturday morning.
“Rest, that’s a generous term. We had to make adjustments,” he said.
“We’ve had a demanding week. We were scheduled to play three days later, with one less recovery day than our opponents.
“Playing minutes is possible, but if we could have a bit more recovery time to ease player welfare, it would be appreciated.”
