Mikel Arteta gives worrying Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice injury update after Arsenal scare in Chelsea draw

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has given a crucial injury update on Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice following his side’s draw with Chelsea on Sunday evening.

The Gunners, finally close to having a full squad back from injury, welcomed back Martin Odegaard into their ranks for the London derby.

The captain made an impact in the second half as his delicate chip over the Chelsea backline picked out Gabriel Martinelli – who smashed his effort in the near post.

While Arsenal had the lead, they surrendered that to the Blues as Pedro Neto had acres of space to shoot from the edge of the box into the back of the net.

Both teams pushed for a winner but were unable to find one, settling for a point and dropping further off the lead.

Two potential scares in there were a potential injury to Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, who were both unable to finish the game.

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Mikel Arteta gives Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice injury latest

Arsenal now have two weeks without action before they return against an in-form Nottingham Forest side in late November.

They will be hopeful that Saka and Rice could be involved in that game, though there have been some injury concerns after the clash with Chelsea.

Saka went down after a clash with Marc Cucurella and couldn’t finish the game, while there were reports that Rice was suffering from a broken toe.

Mikel Arteta gave an update on the pair, telling Sky Sports: “They don’t look very good to me. I don’t know [if they are long-term injuries] but they couldn’t finish the game.”

The pair are expected to be involved for England in Nations League action over the next week or so, which will give some insight into their condition.

If they stay with the Three Lions and the group, there is an expectation that they will be fully fit and raring to go.

However, if they both pull out of the squad, then they may be a longer-term concern for Arsenal to deal with.

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Arsenal injury concerns key in Premier League title hopes

With the third international break now here, Arsenal will be looking to return to action with full fitness back in the squad.

That will be key to their Premier League title challenge as it seems as though the squad depth isn’t strong enough to cope with the demands of winning each week.

With Rice and Saka potentially out of action as soon as Odegaard returns to the side, Arteta will be cursing his luck.

There will be some hope that the pair are back and fully fit for a run of fixtures that doesn’t get much easier across all competitions.

Tough clashes with Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Manchester United and Fulham will heap pressure on the Arsenal boss to pick up results.

Meanwhile, the Champions League may not be a welcome distraction as Sporting CP could cause plenty of problems again.