Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka injury update ahead of Arsenal vs Sporting | Football

Mikel Arteta has confirmed Declan Rice has joined Arsenal’s list of injury doubts ahead of their Champions League showdown with Sporting CP.

The England international played the full 90 minutes away in Lisbon last week and again in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

But the midfielder was among the clutch of Arsenal stars to Tuesday morning’s training session ahead of the visit of the Portuguese giants.

Arsenal lead 1-0 at the halfway point in their quarter-final tie ahead of the return leg in north London on Wednesday night.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta confirmed he is still waiting to learn if a host of names will be ready with a season-defining clash with Manchester City also waiting this weekend.

Arteta refused disclosed any details over Rice’s absence, suggesting the club will make a late decision on his fitness.

Asked if he could disclose anything specific on Rice’s issue, Arteta said: ‘I don’t want to do that. We will have to wait and see tomorrow but obviously he was unable to train.’

Asked if his issue was related to an awkward landing in the Bournemouth game, the Arsenal boss added: ‘He has played a lot of games which is part of the issue but he will do everything he can to be with us tomorrow.’

Arteta gives Saka, Timber and Odegaard update

Rice was one of five players not seen in training this morning.

Bukayo Saka has not played in Arsenal’s three games since the end of the international break. While Arteta had hoped to have him back last Saturday against Bournemouth, the winger did not recover in time.

‘It is something he has been carrying for a while,’ Arteta said. ‘It was an Achilles issue. It is progression and hopefully it is a matter of days and not weeks but he has to see when he is loading more, how he responds to that kind of progression.’

Jurrien Timber meanwhile has missed the last five games, not featuring since the mid-March victory over Everton.

‘We have to wait till tomorrow morning to see how some of the boys are.’

When asked if Timber or Saka could be back, Arteta added: ‘Maybe one of them, let’s see.’

Martin Odegaard has had an injury-hit start to 2026, missing 12 games through muscle and knee problems. The Norway international was back in the starting XI against Southampton and Sporting but was sidelined again last week.

His national team manager Stale Solbakken revealed last week the midfielder had suffered a ‘minor setback’ with Arsenal still to provide a clear update on his condition.

Riccardo Calafiori played the full 90 against Sporting last week but was another who sat out of the Bournemouth game.  

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