‘Never good news’ – Arsenal boss gives injury update on Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera after Brentford win

Arsenal returned to winning ways on Wednesday night as they beat Brentford 2-0 following goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka.

The Gunners played out a disappointing 1-1 draw at Chelsea last weekend, but they bounced back against the Bees to move five points clear at the top.

The result means Arsenal are now unbeaten in their last 18 matches across all competitions.

However, the victory came at a cost for the Premier League leaders as Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice were forced off with knocks.

Mikel Arteta is already without his first-choice centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes due to injury issues.

Mosquera partnered Piero Hincapie in defence, but the 21-year-old came off the pitch just before half-time, with Jurrien Timber replacing the Spaniard.

Rice also appeared to damage his calf late on and had to be taken off.

Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta said: “It is never good news, Declan had to come off. We don’t know we will have to see tomorrow what he has got.

“He could not carry on playing, we have to wait and see what happens. He can walk but he could not play.

“He 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 more time to recover and to make the welfare of these players a little bit easier, that would be great.”

Rice has been the most important player for the North Londoners this campaign, featuring in all 14 Premier League matches and scoring two goals.

Mosquera is not a regular starter, but he has proved himself to be a capable backup for Saliba.

Arsenal supporters will hope the two players have avoided any serious injury to be available for Saturday’s away fixture with Aston Villa.

The Gunners are also without Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard, while Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres all just returned after recent injuries.

Stats from Transfermarkt