Arsenal injury news and return dates as three stars expected back amid Declan Rice concern
Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera have three weeks to build their fitness(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Arsenal have three weeks to dwell on their Premier League defeat to Brighton, but the international break also comes with a bonus for Mikel Arteta and co. The Gunners were thrashed by the Seagulls and lost 3-0 to fall off the pace at the top of the table.
The defeat at the Amex Stadium meant Arsenal dropped points for the first time this season, and now they trail Manchester City by three after Enzo Maresca's side claimed a 5-3 victory over Sunderland. Arteta is sure to want to get back on track against Leeds United in October.
With a longer international break than usual as nations claim their stars for two weeks of action and up to four matches, the north London side have a long wait to dispel the loss from their minds. However, it also means that Arsenal's injured stars have a chance to make their way back to full fitness.
Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and William Saliba all missed the trip to the south coast due to injury. Midfield star Declan Rice is also a new injury worry, having withdrawn from England's squad for fixtures against Spain, Croatia and Czechia.
With that said, football.london takes a look at the latest injury news for each of Arsenal's injured players.
Ahead of Brighton, Arteta suggested that 'Ben is all good' ahead of another training session and that he was 'positive'. Nevertheless, the former Leeds defender missed the game against Brighton and was not named in Thomas Tuchel's England squad.
"Ben pulled out with an injury, he had a fantastic start to the season and was back to his very best on the side as a pair with Bukayo Saka which could be very valuable for us to have two payers on the side.
"But unfortunately he wasn't available for the World Cup and is not available now. It is unfortunately a little bit of a story with Ben that in the decisive moments or in the moments where we do the call-ups he is not available."
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Speaking ahead of defeat to the Seagulls, Arteta said the team were working hard to ensure the fitness of Mosquera, Jurrien Timber and Piero Hincapie. Timber started the match at the Amex, while Hincapie was named among the substitutes despite now being left out of his international squad.
"Yes, we have another session; they are all willing to be part of it," Arteta said in his press conference. "We have another session to try to make sure they are fit."
That would seem to suggest it should not be a long wait for the defender's return.
Mosquera has not featured since suffering a muscular injury against Aston Villa(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
The Arsenal defender became a long-term absentee after suffering a back issue during the World Cup. Arteta has previously suggested it is difficult to put Saliba's recovery on a timeline.
"We don’t really know the amount of weeks Wilo is going to be out because it’s about a healing process and everything is a bit different - we know we have to respect certain timings," he said earlier this month. "The progression has been really positive in the last few weeks, but we need to wait and see how that one reacts when we start to put some load into it."
The Arsenal midfielder has withdrawn from Thomas Tuchel's England squad after playing the full 90 minutes against Brighton. Rice was dealing with a neural hamstring issue throughout the World Cup. football.london understands it is due to a load management issue rather than a specific injury, however.
Return date: Uncertain, but perhaps October 10.
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