football.london

Arsenal drop early Crystal Palace team news hint as Declan Rice decision made

Arsenal have hinted that Declan Rice could play at Selhurst Park this weekend after missing the midweek League Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace.

Jorginho replaced Rice last time in the league against Everton as Mikel Arteta withdrew the midfielder because of an injury that kept him out of the cup tie. The manager confirmed Rice had been dealing with a problem going into the game and could not continue.

However, he can now return to the squad alongside the returning Riccardo Calafiori, who has been out for three months with a groin injury. Oleksandr Zinchenko could also return, affording Arteta more options as the festive fixtures approach.

Rice, though, is the player the club featured on its official social media channels on Friday in a graphic ahead of the Palace match. For comparison, Myles Lewis-Skelly was the subject of the same post in midweek and came on as a second-half substitute for Kieran Tierney.

William Saliba was also the focus of their matchday graphic before starting the match as a substitute and replacing Thomas Partey at half-time. The central defender again features in Saturday morning's version, with a photo of the player celebrating scoring against Fulham used.

Away from the club's social media activity, two players have shared matchday graphics on their personal accounts. Jorginho posted an animation on Friday evening that includes images of him playing in the third kit this season with Selhurst Park in the background.

Jorginho dropped the Arsenal team news hint on Instagram

Jorginho dropped the Arsenal team news hint on Instagram (Image: Instagram / jorginhofrello)

The midfielder regularly shares such posts before matches, and so does Thomas Partey, who did something similar on Saturday morning. His graphic also shows him playing in the third kit earlier this campaign.

Both started in midweek, but only Jorginho played the full 90 minutes. Partey made way for Saliba when the second half began after playing 45 minutes at right-back.

Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023

Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!

By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.

To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!

If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.

Read full news in source page