Declan Rice recovers from illness and is part of the Arsenal squad to face Sporting CP tonight | OneFootball

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has recovered from the illness that kept him out of the opening training session yesterday.

Hand of Arsenal have now claimed this afternoon that Rice has been included in the matchday squad to face Sporting CP this evening.

It is a huge boost for manager Mikel Arteta, given how crucial tonight’s game is as the Gunners look to advance to the Champions League semi-finals.

Arsenal secured a 1-0 win over Sporting last week in Portugal courtesy of a late goal from Kai Havertz.

It handed them a much-needed advantage heading into the second leg of their quarter-final tie, but the job is not done yet.

They will be desperate to bounce back from Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Bournemouth, and having Rice available is a big boost.

However, Arsenal are expected to be without Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino and Jurrien Timber for the game.

Arteta will be hoping for more good news in the coming days, given their next Premier League game.

The Gunners travel to Etihad Stadium on Sunday to take on Manchester City and will need to avoid a defeat to keep their title hopes alive.

Arsenal are still top of the table but are six points ahead of City, who have a game in hand.

They need a statement performance on Sunday, and Arteta could do with his injured key players for the potential title-decider.