Declan Rice fitness scare as five Arsenal stars miss training ahead of Sporting showdown | OneFootball

Concern at start of huge week for Gunners

Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori were all absent as the Gunners trained ahead of the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Sporting.

Their absence will be a concern to Arsenal fans ahead of two huge games this week against Sporting against Manchester City

After game against Sporting, Mikel Arteta’s side then face Manchester City in a blockbuster title showdown at the Etihad on Sunday.

“We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how I feel the boys are,” said Arteta on Tuesday.

Asked for an update on Rice, Arteta said: “I don't want to do that. We have to wait and see. Obviously he wasn't available to train.”

Arsenal won 1-0 in Lisbon last week to leave themselves in a strong position to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the second successive season.

Rice completed the full 90 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.

Odegaard also missed the Bournemouth loss, while Saka has not featured since before the international break.

Arteta said ahead of the first leg last week that he hoped to have Saka back against Bournemouth, but that match came too soon for the winger.

Arteta had also been hopeful of having Timber back, but he too missed out.

The Dutchman was forced off in the first half against Everton last month and has been on the sidelines with a groin injury since.

Asked if Saka or Timber could be back to face Sporting, Arteta said: “Maybe one of them, let's see.”

Calafiori played the full 90 minutes in Lisbon and there did not appear to be an injury issue picked up.

However, the Italian was the not involved in training ahead of the Bournemouth match and was then not in the squad for that defeat.