Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has given an update on the fitness of Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber ahead of the clash against bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium.
Rice appears to be edging closer to involvement ahead of tonights Premier League meeting with Wolves.
The midfielder sat out the midweek Champions League win over Club Brugge after falling ill, interrupting what has otherwise been a near-constant presence in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI this season. He picked up a calf problem in the victory at Brentford but still managed to feature against Aston Villa three days later.
The England international is aiming to anchor the midfield once more this weekend as the league’s bottom side visits the Emirates. Arteta has indicated that the injured contingent are only “a matter of days” away from returning, and among them, Rice seems the likeliest to be available after missing the Brugge trip through illness.
‘Let’s see how he [Rice] is today,’ Arteta said in his pre-match conference on Friday.
‘Obviously he was ill. So normally in a few days it gets resolved, but we have to wait and see how far he can push.’
Timber was another absentee at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday after taking a heavy kick during the defeat to Aston Villa.
Riccardo Calafiori also endured some rough challenges but was still fit enough to take a place on the bench against Club Brugge.
Arteta hopeful of Rice & Timber returns
For Timber, however, that fixture came too soon, and the Dutch defender is still uncertain for the Wolves encounter. His absence left Arsenal so light in central defence that Christian Nørgaard was forced to fill in at centre-back against Brugge.
Asked for an update, Arteta acknowledged that Timber remains doubtful for Saturday’s game.
He said, ‘Depends how he feels today.’
‘It was a knock that he picked [up], and he wasn’t feeling comfortable.
‘So yeah, I think it’s something, a matter of days. But whether it’s tomorrow or not, we’ll see.
With Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba already sidelined and Cristhian Mosquera picking up an ankle injury, it’ll be interesting to see if Arteta will rush Timber back to the starting lineup if he’s declared fit or entrust Norgaard once again at centre-back, where he had an impressive outing against Brugge.
