Declan Rice to be sidelined as Arsenal’s injury list continues to grow.
Declan Rice to be sidelined for a while due to injury.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice was taken off at half time in Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham with a left calf injury.
The £100m summer signing has started every game this season, but Mikel Arteta was forced to replace his key man at the interval.
Jorginho came on for Rice, who was seen with a bandage on his left calf as he took his place on the bench at the start of the second half.
Rice was on the pitch for a pulsating first half that saw Arsenal take the lead after Bukayo Saka’s shot was diverted into his own net by Cristian Romero.
Tottenham his back before the break, though, with Son Heung-min drawing his side level after fine work by James Maddison.
The Gunners restored their advantage in the early stages of the second half as Saka scored from the spot following a Romero handball, but their lead did not last long.
Jorginho, still settling into the game after replacing Rice, was robbed of possession by Maddison, who kept his composure to slide the ball through to Son.
The Spurs captain made no mistake as he calmly stroked his effort past Raya to make it 2-2.
Mikel Arteta speaking on Declan Rice injury; “He had some discomfort in his back, and he was telling us during the the first half he wasn’t comfortable. When we assessed him at halftime, he couldn’t continue, so we had to change him… “
Arsenal have already lost,
- Jurrien Timber – 5 months
- Thomas Partey – 1 month
- Gabriel Martinelli – 2 weeks
- Leonardo Trossard. – 2 weeks
Arsenal face Manchester City in 13 days time.
