Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba, Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Martinelli are carrying knocks following the 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Saliba was forced off at halftime, with Cristhian Mosquera taking his place for the second 45 minutes.
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Rice, meanwhile, lasted until the final 10 minutes before he made way for Mikel Merino. Calafiori was substituted at the same time, and asked about the seriousness of the injuries, Arteta replied:
“The first one was Willy, that obviously had to be out after the first half. Declan, as well, was struggling from the first half with a knock that he took, and who was the other one? Ricky, as well. So yeah, let’s see how they recover.”
“On Willy, there are two things related to his substitution, and with Declan, I don’t really know because it was a knock. But I don’t know if it was the calf or the Achilles or what exactly it was.”
Martinelli sustained a muscular injury
Despite only being a substitute, Gabriel Martinelli also picked up an issue, and Arteta said it will need to be assessed by the club’s medical staff:
“We have to check that one. He was a bit uncomfortable. He said he felt something. We don’t know whether it’s a muscular issue or not. Tomorrow [Monday], we’ll have more news.”
Arsenal had a 5th player who was not 100% fit
Bukayo Saka came off after 66 minutes, having struggled to make much of an impact on proceedings. The winger had also not trained in the days leading up to the Palace fixture.
It has since been revealed that Saka has been recovering from an illness, so fans will be hoping that he is back to full strength when the Gunners take on Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Read more about the Arsenal First Team Squad for 2025/26 here