According to The Guardian, the injury that forced Declan Rice off at half time of Sunday’s North London derby is not thought to be serious and the midfielder hopes to be fit for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth.
After yesterday’s 2-2 draw with Sp*rs, Mikel Arteta revealed the 24-year-old was struggling with a back issue that had left him in discomfort and unable to continue.
The Sky Sports commentary also noted the player was sporting strapping on one of his calf muscles leading to further concern amongst Arsenal supporters.
Rice was replaced by Jorginho, who had already been promoted up the midfield pecking order after Thomas Partey picked up an injury three weeks ago.
Given Jurrien Timber is out for the season and Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard are nursing muscular injuries, the Gunners are facing a mini-injury crisis ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup match with Brentford.
Arteta may be forced to lean on Jorginho for the second time in a week while the likes of Mohamed Elneny and Emile Smith Rowe will also be hoping for game time in what is likely to be a much-rotated side at the Community Stadium.
Next Saturday’s trip to the Vitality will be a different matter. Having drawn two of our opening six games, the Gunners know they need to go all out for the win on the South Coast with a crunch clash against Manchester City on the horizon.
Rice’s involvement will be key, so here’s hoping the reports are true.
Thank f for that
Rice is basically our most important player right now (with Partey out). The difference in level between Rice and Jorgs/Elneny is VAST, and the impact on our play in attack and defense (with Rice vs with Jorgs/Elneny) might be even be bigger. We should never be playing Jorgs as a sole #6. If he plays he needs support – it’s almost identical as to why the Xhaka as #6 experiment failed so badly for three different managers. IMO we should see Jorgs as basically the same as Xhaka, a #8 or in a double pivot. Watching Jorgs against the pace… Read more »
In hindsight, maybe we could’ve swapped Vieira and Rice for Jorginho and Tomiyasu/Kiwior at half-time and moved Zinchenko up to midfield to play a double pivot (not the right game to bring Elneny in anyways)
We’re too dependant on Rice already. Praying he stays fit all season. On the plus side, it was 100m well spent.
Isn’t that just a natural consequence of being the best at what he does??
It’s a bit similar to Saliba’s situation. Some players don’t have replacements that can deliver at their level
Mo is there ultimate team player. Gotta love him. Always simple ball to a team mate, not always progressive but great engine to support others in/out of possession Jorginho isn’t as simple, he will always try to take a player out of the game by turning them around or keep them guessing the direction of play. The playbook on how to take advantage of his lack of acceleration is well documented Partey just passes through players in a simple and fast way. He just lacks the physicality to be able to motor around the field like he used to for… Read more »
I think Partey when fit (yeah, I know) will still easily bypass a defender who tries to press him too closely; otherwise he quickly finds a progressive pass, as you say. I’m not sure he will do that for 90 minutes, but I don’t think anyone in the league is as good at receiving the ball, under pressure, from the keeper or a centre half, on the half turn. Although it’s not exactly the same, I think Rice will soon give (maybe he already has) the team the same sort of combination of security and attacking impetus.
Get well soon, Rice. And to the rest of the guys in the treatment room: wishing you guys a quick recovery.
Saliba had a back problem and his season was finished. Many fans (not me) thought we lost the title due to his injury. I do not think Arteta will risk Rice even against City.
I’d keep him on ice for the city game. If we lose that game we’re fighting for Champions League spots. Jorgi is good enough to beat Bournemouth.
Arteta seemed annoyed he came off
Great news.
Need to play The Nenster Vs Brentford, get him up to speed.
Don’t fancy a midfield 4 of Jorginho, Zinchenko, Odegaard and Havertz.
If Kai is your most physical midfielder, that’s a problem problem.
The Nenster!
😀
The Neny?
Mo ‘Neny, No Problems!
Fingers and toes crossed
Great news about DR. Let’s hope that’s followed up with Eddie and Raya (and Havertz) sitting this out and Ramsdale our No1 back where he belongs.
Sunday showed the huge gap between Rice and Partey to Jorginho. We need Rice healthy to be able to finish in the top 4, if he is out for any length of time we are in big trouble as Partey surely will not stay healthy for any length of time. One thing the pundits are not talking about in the match from Sunday is that we were missing Timber, Partey, Martinelli and Trossard for its entirety and Rice for the second half. If Rice stayed in the game or we had Trossard or Martinelli playing (meaning Jesus would play striker… Read more »