News Beat
Declan Rice in Arsenal travelling squad for Bournemouth clash
DECLAN RICE is in Arsenal’s travelling squad ahead of tonight’s clash with Bournemouth.
The Gunners’ midfield maestro missed Tuesday’s 4-1 thumping of Aston Villa with a knee problem, having suffered the injury in the win over Brighton.
Mikel Arteta confirmed in Friday’s press conference that the England man remains a doubt for Saturday’s trip to the Vitality Stadium.
Asked if his injury had improved, Arteta said: “Let’s see how he comes through training today and how it feels but Villa was too early for him.”
But SunSport understands Rice HAS travelled to the South Coast, and joined the squad on a walk this morning.
Riccardio Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman have all been ruled out of Saturday’s game, while Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Jesus have all just returned from serious injuries so are unlikely to complete 90 minutes.
Arsenal‘s treatment room has been full to the brim this season with William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke among the key stars spending weeks on the sidelines.
Yet Arteta remains buoyant and insists the Gunners’ injury woes have in fact IMPROVED so far this season.
He said: “Looking back in the last three seasons, we have had less days of players missing with injuries than before.
“We have had injuries and you have to separate them. There are the traumatic ones, and the ones that are minor injuries.
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“And we have to improve, but we are better than some other years.”
The Gunners could go seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table with victory this evening.
On each of the previous five occasions that Arsenal topped the table on New Year’s Day, they have failed to finish the job and win the title.
But Arteta, unaware of that stat, vowed to “break” the unwanted hoodoo.
