In his Tuesday press conference, Mikel Arteta was actually one of the more helpful managers to face the Gameweek 29 media, which is saying something.
Even then, there’s plenty left unresolved.
He did, at least, confirm that David Raya was fine after picking up a knock late in the Chelsea game. Max Dowman (ankle) is fit, but Ben White (knock) remains out.
“David is good. Good to go. Max is available.” – Mikel Arteta on David Raya and Max Dowman
“Ben is not available.” – Mikel Arteta on Ben White
The uncertainties are Declan Rice – who asked to come off on Sunday – Martin Odegaard (knee) and Kai Havertz. The latter was a late substitute against Chelsea, back from injury.
“He’s done a part of the session, so we will have to wait and see whether he’s available and in which condition.” – Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz
“Martin is the other one. We’ll see.
“We have to wait and see how comfortable he is to do certain actions.” – Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard
“I hope so. He was much better today. Obviously, we haven’t really trained because we have only two days to prepare the game. Hopefully, he’s going to be better tomorrow.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Declan Rice is “okay”
If there is a more of a glimmer of hope for Rice, it’s that Arteta didn’t think to mention him when asked about injuries: “The rest… I don’t think, there is anybody else”.
But this could have just been more slippery behaviour from the Arsenal boss. Arteta had to be prompted for the latest on White and Odegaard.
defensive contributions