Arsenal are hopeful that Declan Rice has escaped injury, providing a significant boost ahead of Saturday's crucial match against Aston Villa. The robust midfielder, who played a key role in Wednesday night's victory over Brentford, was substituted with seven minutes remaining due to a calf issue.
Rice was seen gesturing towards the back of his calf as he received treatment, but there was internal optimism last night that the England international was merely exhausted after another demanding stint in midfield. The 26-year-old was able to walk around the pitch post-match to acknowledge the home crowd, and upon leaving the Emirates Stadium, he assured Sky Sports that he was "fine".
Rice will undergo an assessment before Arsenal's training session on Friday, but the current anticipation is that he should be fit for this weekend's trip to Villa Park, despite the quick turnaround.
Following his team's restoration of their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League, Mikel Arteta commented: "He [Rice] can walk but he cannot play."
Arsenal now anxiously await news on whether Cristhian Mosquera has sustained an injury. The Spain U21 international centre-back seemed to twist his leg in the turf after leaping to challenge forward Kevin Schade in an aerial duel.
Initially, he experienced some ankle pain and later fell to the ground, but upon receiving treatment, he also appeared to have some discomfort around his knee.
Arteta admitted on Wednesday evening that the extent of Mosquera's injury remained unclear, explaining: "Yeah, we have to wait and see. It's probably part of the knee or ankle, we don't know. He could not really tell us exactly how it was but he wasn't able to continue."
William Saliba observed proceedings from behind the Arsenal dugout, and there are hopes the French defender could feature against Villa to alleviate Arteta's defensive concerns.
The 24-year-old picked up a knock during the final training session prior to the 1-1 stalemate at Chelsea, and he is expected to undergo a fitness assessment before the squad departs for the Midlands on Friday.
Leandro Trossard is also battling to demonstrate his readiness for the fixture after sustaining a calf problem in the 3-1 Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich.
Piero Hincapie endured a heavy collision of heads with Brentford forward Igor Thiago, though he managed to see out the entire match.