Arsenal injury latest as 8 players could miss Wolves with Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber update

Mikel Arteta has provided the latest Arsenal injury news ahead of Saturday night's Premier League clash with Wolves including updates on Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta could welcome back Declan Rice for Saturday's Premier League clash against Wolves after the midfielder missed the Champions League win over Club Brugge.

Rice had been nursing a calf problem picked up in the win over Brentford, but was deemed fit enough to feature in the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa. After not training with the rest of his teammates earlier this week, he didn't travel to Belgium and missed Wednesday night's win.

Mikel Merino dropped into midfield to replace Rice, partnering Martin Zubimendi and Martin Odegaard in the middle of the park. However, Arteta has confirmed that he is optimistic that the England international will be fit enough to play against Wolves

"Let's see how he goes today, he was ill," Arteta said. "Normally in a few days, but let's see how he gets on." Rice isn't the only Arsenal player going into the weekend as a doubt, with five defenders possibly out.

Jurrien Timber was another surprise exclusion from the midweek win after picking up an issue against Villa. The former Ajax man travelled to Belgium but was left out of the squad with no indication whether he'll feature on Saturday night.

"It depends on how he feels today," Arteta explained. "It was a knock that he picked [up] and he wasn't feeling comfortable." Timber's absence has added to Arteta's injury woes, with William Saliba also a doubt.

The French international has been out since suffering an injury before the draw at Chelsea last month. Arteta has previously said his return was only a matter of "days" away but he missed the last two games. "We have to wait and see, yesterday he didn't train." Arteta said on Saliba. "We have an extra day, let's see if he can be available."

Leandro Trossard also missed the win in Belgium after the calf injury that had previously troubled him resurfaced. "Leo again picked up another knock in an area where he had the issue, and I don't expect that it's going to be long, but unfortunately, he cannot be here," Arteta said before Wednesday night.

When asked about the Belgian's availability for Wolves, Arteta said: "Again, it's a matter of days." One player who is guaranteed to miss the weekend is Max Dowman. The 15-year-old picked up an ankle ligament problem during a behind-closed-doors friendly against Manchester United last week.

It isn't clear how long the wonderkid will miss, but he was replaced by Gabriel Jesus in the Gunners' Champions League squad this week. "With Max, unfortunately, he picked up an injury last weekend, and he had to come off, so we did some scans and he is going to be out for week," Arteta explained.

Elsewhere, Gabriel Magalhaes continues to be out after he suffered an adductor issue during the international break. Cristhian Mosquera will be out until next year after picking up a 'complicated' ankle injury.

No timeframe has been set for the summer signing, but reports indicate he could miss six to eight weeks. “He's going to be out for weeks unfortunately, it's much more than what we expected,” Arteta said. “But the player was feeling it, so he's going to be out for weeks.”

Attacker Kai Havertz is still recovering from his knee injury picked up in August. At the start of December, Arteta confirmed the German was a "matter of weeks" away.