Injury-hit Gunners ask for more recovery time

Mikel Arteta fears Arsenal's mounting injury problems will hamper their bid to win the English Premier League title, after Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera limped off in the 2-0 win against Brentford on Dec 3.

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The Gunners moved five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka at the Emirates Stadium.

They also extended their unbeaten run to 18 matches in all competitions with an eighth successive home win.

But Arteta, already without first-choice centre-backs Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba through injury, was dealt a blow when Spanish defender Mosquera was forced off just before halftime.

Even more alarmingly, England midfielder Rice appeared to be nursing a calf injury when he had to be substituted in the 83rd minute.

"Obviously it's never good news. Declan had to come off. We don't know. We have to see tomorrow what he's got," said Arteta, who is also without Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard due to injuries.

"Declan can walk. He cannot play. The thing is, he's played a lot of minutes as well - now we played Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well."