Arsenal have Declan Rice fit to start their Premier League fixture against Aston Villa today.
The England midfielder was forced off late on during the 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday night with a calf problem.
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Rice said after the game that he was “fine”, though Mikel Arteta said he would make a late call on his involvement this weekend.
“Well, let’s see,” the Arsenal boss said on Friday. “I think with all the questions I am going to get, the answer unfortunately is going to be the same.
“We have another training session in the afternoon. Every hour is going to be very important to see the availability. So, after that, we will decide who travels.”
While Rice starts, Arsenal are without Gabriel (thigh) and Kai Havertz (knee) for their trip to Villa Park, and both William Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera miss out.
Mosquera is nursing an ankle problem and needs to undergo further tests after limping off in the first half against Brentford.
“That is the one that is more complicated,” said Arteta, when asked about Mosquera on Friday. “But, again, we have another test today to see where we are with him.”
Quizzed on if Mosquera’s injury could be serious, Arteta responded: “No. We need to know, because the feeling that we had after the game and yesterday, we need to corroborate with what happens with other testing that we do today.”
Subsequent reports have emerged claiming there are fears that Mosquera could be missing for up to six weeks.
Arsenal are able to welcome back Leandro Trossard after two games out and there’s a second start in a week for Marrtin Odegaard.
Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze come into the side, with the Dutchman expected to partner Piero Hincapie in central defence. Youngster Marli Salmon is named on the bench.
Confirmed team news
Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Timber, Hincapie, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Eze, Merino.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, Salmon, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Trossard, Martinelli, Madueke, Gyokeres.
