Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, and William Saliba were all missing from Arsenal’s open training session ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League trip to Club Brugge.
Rice – who completed 90 minutes at Villa despite limping off against Brentford – and Trossard – introduced at half-time only to be withdrawn again after scoring – both trained indoors, according to reporters on site. Whether Mikel Arteta takes them to Belgium remains to be seen, but with the depth at his disposal, it would be no surprise if he avoids unnecessary risks.
Christian Norgaard could step into midfield, Mikel Merino may drop deeper, and Martin Odegaard or Eberechi Eze could be paired together. Out wide, Martinelli, Eze and Noni Madueke provide cover.
More worrying is the ongoing absence of Saliba. Despite Arteta repeatedly insisting the defender is “a matter of days” away, Sunday’s post-match comments – after fielding a sixth different defensive line of the season – hinted he may have to keep mixing and matching options for a while longer.
He said: “It is what it is, and we have to cope with that for a period of time as well, we know that. And the team has to be able to adapt to that, not look for excuses.”
Reading between the lines, Saliba’s problem appears more persistent than advertised.
Arsenal remain without long-term absentees Gabriel Magalhaes (expected back in January) and Kai Havertz (out since August and recently suffering a setback in his knee recovery). Cristhian Mosquera will also miss at least six weeks.
Gabriel Jesus is not registered for the Champions League, ruling him out of tomorrow’s match, while Riccardo Calafiori will be suspended for Saturday’s visit of Wolves after reaching five yellow cards.
Jeorge Bird, our resident youth expert, reports that youngsters Marli Salmon, who made the bench on Saturday, Josh Nichols, Louie Copley and Marcel Washington helped make up the numbers in training.