Arsenal injury crisis deepens as six stars miss training ahead of Bournemouth clash
Arsenal have been dealt a major blow ahead of their Premier League clash with Bournemouth, with six stars missing from training on Friday afternoon.
The Gunners have picked up a number of injury concerns in the last two weeks, with Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Fabio Vieira all missing from training.
Speaking at a press conference, Mikel Arteta confirmed all four have not trained ahead of the club’s final session on Friday afternoon.
‘Declan hasn’t trained yet, we have a session in an hour, we’ll get more news about him,’ Arteta said. ‘Gabi [Martinelli] hasn’t trained, Leo same situation, Saka, same. They are all in the same pool.’
He continued: ‘Willy had a knock, Fabio wasn’t involved,’ confirmed Arteta. ‘We have to assess them today.’
Why is Arsenal’s injury list so long?
Asked why Arsenal’s problems are suddenly beginning to mount, Arteta said: ‘Different reasons. Some happen in training, some are knocks, some are very small muscular niggles.
‘But as well the load coming from before the national team and then after the national team the load went through the roof and the demands continue to be really high.
‘The fact we had three or four out already didn’t give enough time to some of them to have the exposure they needed.’
What did Arteta say about the Bournemouth game?
‘It’s about now , it’s about Bournemouth which is the most important game of the season we have now,’ Arteta added when asked if next weekend’s game against Manchester City would impact his team selection tomorrow.’
What other teams have injury problems?
Arsenal are not the only side dealing with a lengthening injury list with Chelsea, Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United all without at least nine members of their squad.
Follow Metro Sport for more news
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.