Arteta Gets Dizzy At The End Of The Week, Hurricane Injured Doesn't Also Go

Declan Rice may be absent when Arsenal travel to Chelsea this weekend (Instagram/@declanrice).

JAKARTA - Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, is dizzy. The injury storm never leaves its troops.

In fact, the Gunners will visit Chelsea headquarters in the 11th week of the 2024/2025 Premier League, Sunday, November 10, 2024.

The Spanish manager is considering whether Declan Rice can play or not.

Rice picked up an injury when Arsenal lost to Newcastle United 0-1 last weekend.

The 25-year-old player was absent when the Gunners lost 0-1 to Inter Milan in the Champions League.

Later after being tested, Rice turned out to have broken his toe.

"I have to be very unsure about that because it's not clear whether he (Rice) will fit or not for the weekend."

"He hasn't trained yet and it's not clear if he will be available," said Mikel Arteta on Friday, November 8, 2024, at the London Evening Standard.

In fact, Arteta desperately needed Rice's presence to return to winning ways after two consecutive defeats in all competitions.

Moreover, Arsenal need a win in the Premier League so they can get closer and fight again in the race for the league title.

Currently, the North London team is thrown to fifth place, seven points behind leaders Liverpool and five points adrift of defending champions Manchester City in second place.

Losing will certainly make it difficult for them in the hunt for the Premier League title.

The problem is, Arteta needs a complete squad to fight Chelsea. However, that's not the case.

Arteta may also have lost Kai Havertz. The attacker was forced to leave the field at the last moment of Arsenal's match against Inter Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

The German is fighting for a cross. However, unfortunately he collided with Yann Bisseck.

Havertz was forced to leave the field with blood pouring from his head. Arteta said after the match that Havertz needed stitches.

"We have to wait until tomorrow (November 9, 2024) to see how the reaction will be. It was a pretty bad blow that made him have to come out," said Arteta.

At least, Arsenal added one power. Martin Odegaard has returned and made a comeback against Inter Milan.

Previously, the midfielder had not played for Arsenal since August 2024 after suffering an ankle injury while playing for the Norwegian national team.

"The positive news is it's great to be able to get Martin back. He trained with us for the first time, the session was full today."

"He's feeling fine, it's a little earlier than we expected. However, he wants to be with the team."

"At least this is a big step because he joined us and became part of the team," said Arteta again.

Like it or not, Arteta must maximize the existing squad to face Chelsea.

He remains optimistic. Moreover, Arteta assessed that his team's game against Inter Milan was the best performance despite losing 0-1 through a controversial penalty.

The Spaniard believes such a game can be a way to beat the Blues.

"If we play the way we play, we will have a great chance of winning against Chelsea."

"That's the way we have to go. I told them I'm proud of them."

"We are disappointed that we didn't get what we wanted from the match against Inter, that's for sure," said Arteta.

Meanwhile, both Rice and Havertz have been registered in their respective national teams to appear in the UEFA Nations League.

Havertz will defend Germany against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary. Rice is in the England squad that will face Greece and the Republic of Ireland in the middle of this month.

However, it is not clear whether they can join the national team or not.