Arsenal have some major injury concerns ahead of two huge games this week against Sporting and Manchester City.
The Gunners are reeling after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth followed their Carabao Cup final defeat and shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Southampton.
Mikel Arteta’s side bid to get back on track when they play Sporting in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, leading 1-0 from the first leg.
They then face Manchester City in a huge title showdown at the Etihad on Sunday.
Arteta has been handed a fresh injury scare over Declan Rice after Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori all missed the Bournemouth defeat.
With that in mind, here is the latest Arsenal injury news and return dates…
Declan Rice
Declan Rice sparked fresh injury concern when he missed Arsenal training on Tuesday.
Rice completed the full 90 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth but was absent when Arsenal trained on Tuesday ahead of the Sporting game.
Asked for an update on Rice in his press conference on Tuesday ahead of the Sporting game, Arteta said: "I don't want to do that.
“We have to wait and see. Obviously he wasn't available to train."
Potential return date: Unknown
Martin Odegaard
Martin Odegaard has not had any luck with injuries this season and disaster has struck again with Odegaard forced to sit out the loss to Bournemouth.
Arteta revealed that the Norway international picked up a “niggle” during the first leg win over Sporting, a game in which he was brought off in the 70th minute.
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Odegaard did not train with the Arsenal squad on Tuesday, suggesting he will not be fit to face Sporting.
Potential return date: Sunday April 19, vs Man City (A)
Bukayo Saka
Bukayo Saka withdrew from England duty last month, having joined up late after Thomas Tuchel said he wanted to manage the workload of some key players.
The winger was thought to have been rested for the FA Cup quarter-final loss to Southampton, but concerns over his fitness have increased after missing out against Sporting and Bournemouth.
Saka has still not returned to training which suggests he is no nearer to a return, but Arteta is hopeful of having his vice-captain back as soon as possible.
Arteta said on Tuesday: “We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how I feel the boys are.”
Potential return date: Sunday April 19, vs Man City (A)
Jurrien Timber
It is approaching a month to the date since Jurrien Timber last played for Arsenal.
The defender was forced off in the 2-0 win over Everton and has subsequently missed the last five games with an ankle problem that also saw him withdraw from the Netherlands squad for games against Norway and Ecuador.
Timber did not train on Tuesday.
Asked if Saka or Timber could be back to face Sporting, Arteta said: “Maybe one of them, let's see.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Riccardo Calafiori
Riccardo Calafiori played the entire 90 minutes against Sporting last week, but like Odegaard, was left out of the squad completely for the visit of Bournemouth and it’s not clear as to what his issue is.
The Italian, now, has not played consecutive Premier League matches since the start of December.
It is possible that Arsenal are simply just managing Calafiori’s minutes to avoid a serious injury, but he did not train on Tuesday.
Potential return date: Wednesday April 15, vs Sporting CP (H) or Sunday April 19, vs Man City (A)
Piero Hincapie
Ecuador said, during the international break, that Piero Hincapie had returned to Arsenal “to begin his recovery process” following medical tests over an unspecified injury.
Hincapie was ruled out of the Southampton game and also missed out in Lisbon, but returned to the matchday squad at the weekend and will be pushing to start on Wednesday night.
Potential return date: Wednesday April 15, vs Sporting CP (H)
Mikel Merino
Mikel Merino is in a race against the clock to play for Arsenal again this season and be fit for the World Cup, after having surgery on a foot injury in February.
In a new update on the Spaniard, Arteta has said: “He's going to push every boundary.
“He's out of his boot, doing quite a lot of exercises already.
“He reacted really well to the surgery and he's got no pain. I'm sure there is a chance to make that period shorter - if there is a person that can make that shorter, it's Mikel.”
Potential return date: Unknown
