Saliba, Mosquera, Rice - Arsenal injury news and return dates for Aston Villa clash

Mikel Arteta will be forced to use his Arsenal squad against Aston Villa after more further injuries in midweek - as an update on Declan Rice emerges.

Arsenal travel to Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime (12.30pm) with the prospect of being without a number of key players. Mikel Arteta has been suffering with several injury concerns in the past few weeks, and they have shown little signs of easing.

With Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba missing, Cristhian Mosquera is also set for a period out, meaning the Gunners are without their best defence. There are also concerns about Declan Rice after he picked up an issue in the midweek win against Burnley.

On top of that, Leandro Trossard has missed the last two games, although there is some hope he will be available against Aston Villa. Kai Havertz continues to be out - though Arsenal do have summer signing Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus back.

With that being said, let's take a look at the latest Arsenal injury news and potential return dates;

Declan Rice

Rice seemed to be in some discomfort during the midweek win over Brentford. The midfielder appeared to point towards his calf when speaking to the medical staff at the time, before coming off with seven minutes left.

He managed to walk around the pitch at full-time before telling Sky Sports he was 'fine'. It's understood that Rice was assessed before training on Friday, but the expectation is he will be available for the trip to Villa Park.

What Arteta has said: "Well, let's see. I think with all the questions I'm going to get, the answer, unfortunately, is going to be the same. We have another training session in the afternoon. Every hour is going to be very important to see the availability of the players. After that, we'll decide which hours."

Predicted return date: Aston Villa (A) - December 6

Cristhian Mosquera

Mosquera's injury concerns have added more problems for Arteta in defence, with Saliba and Gabriel out, as well. Their summer signing was withdrawn during the first half on Wednesday after landing awkwardly after contesting for a header.

BBC Sport have reported that the defender faces at least six weeks out with an ankle injury.

What Arteta has said: "That's the one that is more complicated. But again, we will have another test today to see where we are with them."

Predicted return date: Unknown.

William Saliba

Saliba missed last week's draw with Chelsea after picking up a knock in training prior. That issue wasn't specified, before he missed the win over Brentford.

It's currently unclear if he is back for Villa, though Arteta did confirm in mid-week that his return was a matter of days away.

What Arteta has said: "Yeah, it is a matter of days with those two, for sure."

Predicted return date: Unknown.

Gabriel Magalhaes

Saliba's prime partner, Gabriel, has been out with an adductor injury picked up during the international break for Brazil last month. The 27-year-old is expected to miss several weeks.

Arteta confirmed that the Brazilian would be side-lined for a while, ruling him out of the trip to Villa.

What Arteta has said: "With Gabi, there are still some weeks to go." Speaking on Tuesday, he added: "Big Gabi is doing very well as well, but that's weeks as well."

Leandro Trossard

Trossard has missed the last two games for Arsenal after limping off with a muscle injury in the win over Bayern Munich. After Arteta had hoped he might be back for the Chelsea game, the Belgian missed the trip to Stamford Bridge and against Brentford.

What Arteta has said: "Yeah, it is a matter of days with those two, for sure."

Predicted return date: Unknown.

Kai Havertz

Havertz has been missing since the first match of the campaign - when it was clear that he needed to undergo a procedure on his knee. While that was successful, it has taken some time for the forward to get back up to speed, with there still being some time before he will be back playing again.

What Arteta has said: "Matter of weeks; let's see how it evolves in the next few weeks. But he's doing really well, he's doing stuff on the pitch, but I think he needs some time."

Predicted return date: December 2025.