Mikel Arteta could be without seven players for Arsenal vs Chelsea Premier League clash

Arsenal are still dealing with multiple injury worries ahead of the Premier League clash against Chelsea. Club captain Martin Odegaard has only just returned from a six-week lay-off and yet Mikel Arteta could still be without three of his most influential players.

Declan Rice was left out of the squad that travelled to Italy for a Champions League clash against Inter Milan after picking up an injury the previous weekend. Arteta was then handed two fresh injury worries as both Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz left the European clash with head injuries.

On Friday, Arteta was asked for an update on the trio, with it appearing unlikely that Rice will be available for the clash at Stamford Bridge. "I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity if he [Rice] is going to be fit on the weekend. He hasn’t trained yet and it’s not clear if he’ll be able to play."

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"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. We will have to wait to see how they react." As is the expectation, Arteta did not provide too much detail in his injury updates, with a similar tactic taken when asked about Odegaard.

The attacking midfielder made his first appearance for Arsenal in over two months against Inter as he replaced Havertz for the final five minutes. Asked specifically if he could start the London derby, Arteta said: "Everybody in the squad will be fit and available to start the game; then it will be a decision on whether to start the game."

As for other absentees, Raheem Sterling is ineligible to face his parent club, having departed west London on a temporary basis. Riccardo Calafiori, meanwhile, is still recovering from a knee injury picked up in the Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

“He will be out for a few weeks, I would say," Arteta admitted in late October. Based on that prognosis, a return after the November international break for the Italy international looks likely.

Though Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu are edging closer towards returning from lengthy spells out, neither has yet been spotted in training at London Colney and are thus still unavailable. On Tierney, Arteta has said: "I think he's quite close. He's looking really good.

"I think he's over the period where he was still struggling, so he looks really sharp out there. He hasn't trained with the team yet, but hopefully, he can do that in the next week or two."