Arsenal full squad revealed for Chelsea as vital Declan Rice decision made as another misses out

Once more, Mikel Arteta faces an anxious wait to see just how many of his squad will be available to play. It is a common theme that has plagued the season to date and threatens to see Arsenal fall away if results don't turn.

Luckily for Arteta, Manchester City are struggling - losing four in a row in all competitions for the first time since 2006 after squandering a 1-0 lead away to Brighton on Saturday. Unfortunately, the task at hand is far from simple for the Arsenal head coach.

Although he boasts a mightily strong record at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are a team playing with a fair degree of confidence after starting the campaign well under Enzo Maresca. Like Arteta, though, Maresca has a big Cole Palmer-sized injury worry to contend with.

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Arsenal, who have just seen Martin Odegaard return to the matchday squad after two months away, know how it feels. Ahead of Sunday's crucial Premier League meeting, there are more problems at play.

Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino both picked up head injuries in the 1-0 loss to Inter on Wednesday. Both players have had a matter of days to recover but nothing more.

"We will have to wait to see how they react," Arteta explained on Friday of the pair. "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."

If that leaves much to be decided late on for the journey across London to SW6 then Declan Rice is in the same camp. He didn't even travel to Inter for Champions League duty after picking up a knock against Newcastle.

Rice was a surprise absentee from midweek training and hasn't had much time since to return to fitness. "I have to be very vague on that one because there's no clarity if he’s going to be fit on the weekend," said Arteta. "He hasn't trained yet and it's not clear if he'll be able to play."

The only good news is that Arteta has been firm with his squad selection outside of this. "Everybody in the squad will be fit and available to start the game," he added when asked if Odegaard was now ready to go straight into Premier League action. "Then it will be a decision on whether to start the game."

Raheem Sterling will not be one of those up for selection as he is ruled out due to being on loan from Chelsea. Arsenal's defence, for once, is in good shape.

Here, football.london picks the squad expected to be announced on Sunday afternoon prior to the game.

Goalkeepers: David Raya, Neto

Defenders: Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko

Midfielders: Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Jorginho, Martin Odegaard, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Miles Lewis-Skelly

Attackers: Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard