Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice & Gabrielplaceholder image
Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice & Gabriel | Getty Images
The latest Arsenal team news and injury updates ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg fixture against Sporting.
Having been knocked out of two cup competitions in consecutive matches, Arsenal will try to avoid making it three from three when they face Sporting in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday evening – but a string of recent injury issues will make life much more difficult ahead of the first leg in Lisbon.
Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhães and Jurriën Timber were among eight first-team players who were absent for the surprise 2-1 defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday, while several others (including William Saliba and Noni Madueke) started on the bench after injuries sustained on international duty.
With kick-off in the Champions League fast approaching, we’ve collected all of the latest Arsenal injury news and updates below, along with the likely absentees’ expected return dates when available.
Will Bukayo Saka and Jurriën Timber be fit to face Sporting?
Of the eight players who missed out against Southampton, at least four seem destined to miss Tuesday evening’s match too – including winger Bukayo Saka, who withdrew from the England squad for the March friendlies due to an undisclosed muscular injury.
Saka hasn’t yet returned to training, and Mikel Arteta confirmed that the 24-year-old has not travelled to Portugal with the rest of the squad. The Arsenal head coach told the press that Saka was “not ready yet” – and the same is also true of right-back Jurriën Timber, who is still recovering from the ankle injury which kept him out of the EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Arteta has, however, told the media that the pair would “hopefully” be back in the squad for the Premier League match against Bournemouth this weekend “if everything goes well.” Neither are expected to be out for any length of time.
The two other injured Arsenal stars who will play no part against Sporting are Eberechi Eze, who is expected to miss up to four more weeks with the calf injury he picked up against Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Champions League – the May 2 match against Fulham is a realistic target – and Mikel Merino, who looks unlikely to play again this season after undergoing surgery on a stress fracture in his foot.
Declan Rice & Gabriel return to training – but will they play for Arsenal?
There is better news on the availability of key midfielder Declan Rice and centre-back Gabriel Magalhães, both of whom returned to training on Monday and have travelled with the squad for the first leg against Sporting – although it remains unclear whether either will be able to play a full 90 minutes.
Rice, like Saka, withdrew from England duty due to injury, with Thomas Tuchel telling the press that he had been playing through “discomfort” and needed to rest. Gabriel, meanwhile, had an issue with his right knee which kept him out of Brazil’s matches during the international break. Both should feature in some capacity against Sporting.
The same is true of versatile forward Leandro Trossard, who has likewise travelled with the team and will be able to play at least some part in Portugal after recovering from an undisclosed injury which forced him to withdraw from the Belgium squad.
There is rather less certainty over the condition of on-loan defender Piero Hincapié. The Ecuadorian left his national side before their 1-1 draw with the Netherlands due to an unspecified fitness problem, and as yet no updates have been provided as to when he might be available again. Arteta has said that is uncertain of the timeline, and no information about the nature of the injury has been provided to the press. As it stands, it must be assumed that Hincapié will miss the match against Sporting, and perhaps several more fixtures afterwards.
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