Arsenal injury crisis! Mikel Arteta provides updates on Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice ahead of Bournemouth clash

A number of Arsenal first-team regulars may be unavailable for the clash against Bournemouth on Saturday, Mikel Arteta has revealed.

WHAT HAPPENED? Summer signing Declan Rice who was taken off at half time of last weekend's 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, has not trained this week, according to Mikel Arteta. Following the game, the England international was diagnosed with a back issue, according to the Spaniard. Both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard missed the match against the Spurs and are yet to report back to practice. Bukayo Saka was substituted late in the north London derby and missed the midweek triumph against Brentford in the Carabao Cup third round and could miss out again this weekend.

WHAT THEY SAID: The Gunners boss told reporters: «Declan hasn’t trained yet, we have a session in an hour, we’ll get more news about him. Gabi [Martinelli] hasn’t trained, Leo same situation, Saka, same. They are all in the same pool, Willy [Saliba] had a knock, and Fabio [Viera] wasn’t involved. We have to assess them today.»

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Though Rice was replaced against Spurs because his range of motion became reduced, Arsenal is confident that the injury is not long-term. Since then, a variety of tests have been performed on the £105 million ($129m) summer acquisition from West Ham in an effort to determine the severity of the problem. Arteta must make some difficult decisions over the course of the next 24 hours about who, if anybody, to risk because of the crucial match against Manchester City in a week and a Champions League trip to Lens on Tuesday.

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WHAT NEXT? Arteta will likely be very shorthanded when Arsenal take on Bournemouth on Saturday, September 30 at the Vitality Stadium.