Rice and Havertz missing, Odegaard not ready, Nwaneri starts – Worst-case Arsenal XI vs Chelsea

Mikel Arteta delivered some sobering news regarding his Arsenal team ahead of the clash with Chelsea on Sunday. Arsenal suffered a couple of rare issues to their side over the last week.

Both Declan Rice and Kai Havertz have been effective mainstays in the side and rarely had any injury problems. Rice has reportedly got a broken toe while Havertz suffered a cut to the head at the end of the game with Inter Milan.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: "I have to be very vague on [Rice] because there's no clarity if he’s going to be fit on the weekend," the Spaniard said. "He hasn't trained yet and it's not clear if he'll be able to play."

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On Havertz and Mikel Merino who also came off at half-time following a collision with Yann Sommer, Arteta explained: "We will have to wait to see how they react," he said. "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."

With so many potential absentees, and the reality that Martin Odegaard may not be ready to start, the Arsenal line-up could be missing some massive stars. That said, as football.london put together an XI for the game in a worst-case scenario – which also won’t include Raheem Sterling who cannot face his parent club – the depth on show still have plenty to offer.

The back five is thankfully okay for the game, despite missing Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber can play as the defensive four in front of David Raya.

Into midfield and the absences of Rice and Merino plus Odegaard only making the bench means that Thomas Partey will be joined by former Blue Jorginho. The Italian has not seen much action this season but remains a key figure in the side.

Ahead of the defensive midfield pair is Ethan Nwaneri. Leandro Trossard might be preferred by Mikel Arteta but the teenager has continually shown exciting sparks which are worthy of more game time and this game, where Arsenal need some injection of quality, would be perfect.

Up top, with no Kai Havertz naturally that sees Gabriel Jesus take up the striker role. The Brazilian had one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt in the 1-0 win two seasons ago and there would be hope this could be repeated again.

Meanwhile, both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are thankfully fit. They will need to be on their best game if Arsenal want to take home a massive three points.