Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal face another nervous wait over key personnel after injuries to Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice marred their 2–0 victory over Brentford, a result that moved the club five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Both players were forced off, further stretching a defensive unit already weakened by absences elsewhere.
Mosquera’s withdrawal came shortly before half-time after the defender landed awkwardly while competing for a header with Kevin Schade.
The Colombian received treatment on the pitch before being replaced by Jurrien Timber in the 44th minute.
Rice later followed him off, departing in the 83rd minute after appearing to suffer a calf problem.
“Yes, obviously it’s never good news,” Arteta said after the match.
“Declan had to come off, we don’t know. We have to see tomorrow what he’s got. And Mosquera is the other one that is out. Obviously we have Gabriel and Willy [Saliba] are out as well. So we have to adapt.”
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Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal face another nervous wait over key personnel after injuries to Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice marred their 2–0 victory over Brentford, a result that moved the club five points clear at the top of the Premier League table
|PA
The concerns add to a mounting list of issues in central defence, with William Saliba and Gabriel also sidelined.
Arteta expressed frustration at the demands being placed on his squad, particularly the rapid turnaround between fixtures.
Offering more detail, he said: “[Rice] can walk. He cannot play.
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Declan Rice came off in Arsenal's win over Brentford at the Emirates Stadium
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"The thing is playing a lot of minutes, but as well when. Now we play Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well.
"We can play minutes, but if they can please give us just a little bit more time to recover and to make the well-being of these players a little bit easier, that would be great.”
On Mosquera’s condition, Arteta admitted uncertainty.
“We have to wait and see," he stated. "It’s probably part of the knee or ankle, we don’t know.
"He could not really tell us exactly how it was, but he wasn’t able to continue.”
Cristhian Mosquera represents another injury headache for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
|REUTERS
Before the game, Arteta had suggested Saliba was only “a matter of days” away from returning, and the Arsenal manager will hope the Frenchman can recover in time for Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa as the fixture list begins to tighten.
Despite the disruption, Arsenal were rarely troubled defensively as they secured a comfortable win at the Emirates.
Mikel Merino opened the scoring early on, heading in Ben White’s cross, before Bukayo Saka added a second deep into stoppage time to secure the points.
Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the table is growing, but with the squad’s depth being tested, Arteta now heads into another crucial week with problems mounting.