Mikel Arteta delivered some sobering news regarding his Arsenal team ahead of the clash with Chelsea on Sunday. Arsenal suffered a couple of rare issues to their side over the last week.
Both Declan Rice and Kai Havertz have been effective mainstays in the side and rarely had any injury problems. Rice has reportedly got a broken toe while Havertz suffered a cut to the head at the end of the game with Inter Milan.
On Havertz and Mikel Merino who also came off at half-time following a collision with Yann Sommer, Arteta explained: “We will have to wait to see how they react,” he said. “Kai had a nasty cut so we had to take him off. With Mikel he wasn’t feeling great the day before so we had to sub him at half-time.”
With so many potential absentees, and the reality that Martin Odegaard may not be ready to start, the Arsenal line-up could be missing some massive stars.
The back five is thankfully okay for the game, despite missing Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber can play as the defensive four in front of David Raya.
