Tribal Football

Arteta gives injury updates on Merino, Rice and Havertz ahead of Chelsea visit

Zack Oaten
Arteta gives injury updates on Merino, Rice and Havertz ahead of Chelsea visit
Arteta gives injury updates on Merino, Rice and Havertz ahead of Chelsea visitAction Plus
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has given a crucial update on Mikel Merino, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge.

Rice sustained a foot injury during last weekend’s defeat at Newcastle and could not travel to Italy for Arsenal’s Champions League game against Inter Milan which saw the Gunners lose their second game in a row. 

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Arteta gave an update in his most recent press conference on the England midfielder who is unlikely to start against a fierce Enzo Maresca side. 

"I have to be very vague on that one because there's no clarity if he’s going to be fit on the weekend," the Spaniard said. "He hasn't trained yet and it's not clear if he'll be able to play." 

On Havertz and Merino it is uncertain whether they are ready to play, Arteta gave a vague update on the pair who are just 2 of many Arsenal players recovering in the medical room. 

"We will have to wait to see how they react," he said. "Kai had a nasty cut so we had to take him off. With Mikel he wasn't feeling great the day before so we had to sub him at half time."