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Mikel Arteta was handed a double blow during Arsenal's win over Brentford, with Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera both forced off
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes Arsenal's biggest challenge now is to cope without Declan Rice. The midfielder appeared to suffer a calf injury during the latter stages of Wednesday's 2-0 win against Brentford at the Emirates Stadium.
He limped off with seven minutes to go with Viktor Gyokeres replacing him. Speaking about the injury, Mikel Arteta said: "Obviously it's never good news.
"Declan had to come off. We don't know. We have to see tomorrow what he's got. He can walk. He cannot play.
"The thing is, he's played a lot of minutes but as well, now we played Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well."
Arsenal are already contending with several injuries, with Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz sidelined.
Rice and Cristhian Mosquera became the latest setbacks after both came off against Brentford.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Murphy pointed out that the Gunners will now be properly tested following recent injuries.
"Brentford actually did well in the second half but Arsenal's strength and depth is really, really good and it's going to be tested now with the injuries we've seen," the 48-year-old said.
Presenter Gabby Logan then went on to say: "Unbeaten in 18 in all competitions, eight out of ten games with a clean sheet but when you've lost Saliba, Gabriel, Mosquera went off tonight, Rice went off tonight as well.
"This looks like it's going to be one of the most testing periods for them in terms of keeping up that relentlessness and that challenge."
In response, Murphy praised the defence's performance given the circumstances, but his comments were telling in that Arsenal face a huge test of their depth if Rice does miss out at third-placed Aston Villa on Saturday.
"They've covered the defence quite well in recent times when they've had injuries, and I think Saliba, is close to coming back so that's not as big a problem," he added.
"We haven't seen this Arsenal team cope without Rice yet, so if he is injured in the calf is a problem and we'll see how they adapt to that.
"That's going to be a big miss if he is missing for the Aston Villa game on Saturday."
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