**Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was a surprise absentee from the matchday squad that faced Aston Villa on Tuesday night.**
Speaking before the game, manager Mikel Arteta confirmed that the England international had been kicked in the back of the knee during the 2-1 win over Brighton last week.
The knee had already swollen up by the end of the match, and Rice was not able to recover in time for the [**Villa fixture**](https://goonernews.com/blog/arsenal-player-ratings-aston-villa-2/).
Asked whether the midfielder could be back in time to face Bournemouth on Saturday evening, Arteta replied:
“Depends. That swelling has to come right down for him to have the chance to function. He wasn’t available to do that today yet. He’s improving, but let’s see what it is in the next couple of days.”
2 Arsenal players returned from injury against Villa
----------------------------------------------------
Fans were delighted to see Kai Havertz and Ben White back on the substitutes bench for the 4-1 win yesterday evening.
Havertz has not featured since undergoing knee surgery back in August, but he could get some minutes against the Cherries this weekend.
White had a hamstring injury, which kept him sidelined for four matches. He came on to replace Jurrien Timber for the final 10 minutes last night.
There are still 4 unavailable
-----------------------------
In addition to Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman remain on the treatment table.
Calafiori pulled up in the warm-up before the Brighton game, with Myles Lewis-Skelly taking his place in the starting eleven.
Mosquera has an ankle injury that will likely keep him out until mid-January. The Spaniard has been unavailable since the 2-0 win over Brentford at the beginning of December.
Max Dowman has a similar problem to Mosquera. The teenager is expected to be sidelined until the start of February after picking up an ankle problem whilst playing for the Under-21s.
[**Read more about the Arsenal First Team Squad for 2025/26 here**](https://goonernews.com/blog/arsenal-first-team-squad/)