Arsenal injury update: Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman latest news and return dates

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Evening Standard

·5 janvier 2026

Arsenal injury update: Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman latest news and return dates

Gunners top Premier League table by six points

Arsenal started 2026 as they mean to go on with a 3-2 win over Bournemouth in a topsy-turvy affair at the Vitality Stadium.

The Gunners extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points, taking advantage of Manchester City’s draw at Sunderland on New Year’s Day.

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Declan Rice returned from injury - to everyone’s surprise - to score two goals on the Dorset coast as the north Londoners cemented their title credentials.

They suffered no further injury issues at Bournemouth, and Rice came through the game unscathed, playing the full 90 minutes following his knee issue that he suffered against Brighton.

It had led to the midfielder missing the 4-1 rout of Aston Villa before the turn of the year, and he was a major doubt for the trip to Bournemouth before his shock selection.

Calafiori was forced to withdraw from Arsenal’s game against Brighton in the warm-up, and as such, he missed the win over Villa.

He was also not in the squad for Bournemouth, with Piero Hincapie deputising at left-back after Myles Lewis-Skelly stepped in against the Seagulls.

Calafiori, the Italy international, was said to have sustained a “very awkward” injury in the build-up to the game with Brighton, according to Mikel Arteta, who confirmed ahead of the trip to Bournemouth that the former Bologna defender would be unavailable.

Potential return date: January 8 vs Liverpool (H)

Cristhian Mosquera

Summer signing Mosquera has been out longer-term, with Arteta admitting that the Spaniard’s ankle issue was “complicated”.

The former Valencia man has been out since the start of December, with the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa the first fixture he missed.

“He's going to be out for weeks unfortunately, it's much more than what we expected,” Arteta said last month.

Potential return date: January 17 vs Nottingham Forest (A)

Max Dowman

Young star Dowman is also sidelined with an ankle problem, which he suffered during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Manchester United back in December.

The teenager has been removed from Arsenal’s Champions League squad to make room for the returning Gabriel Jesus.

Despite Dowman’s apparent lack of need for surgery, he is set to be on the treatment table until February.

“With Max, unfortunately, he picked up an injury, so we did some scans and he is going to be out,” Arteta said last month,

Potential return date: February 2026