ARSENAL IN TATTERS AFTER THIRD CENTRE-BACK LIMPS OFF IN BRENTFORD WIN

ARSENAL travel to Aston Villa at 2.30pm on Saturday sukkeling with mounting fitness concerns that threaten to derail their Premier League title charge.

A routine-looking 2-0 victory over Brentford on Wednesday – secured through goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka – extended the Gunners’ unbeaten run to 18 matches and kept them five points clear of Manchester City. Yet the win came at a cost baas Mikel Arteta cannot afford.

Already without first-choice centre-backs Gabriel and William Saliba, Arteta saw Cristhian Mosquera limp off before halftime with a suspected muscle problem.

More worrying still was the sight of Declan Rice nursing a calf issue as he departed with 10 minutes remaining. With Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard also sidelined, Arsenal’s injury list now threatens to reshape the league title race.

Arteta cut a frustrated figure afterwards, admitting uncertainty over Rice’s condition and highlighting the physical burden his squad has absorbed.

Arteta wysed: “Obviously it’s never good news. Declan had to come off. We don’t know. We have to see tomorrow [Thursday] what he’s got.

“Declan can walk. He cannot play. The thing is, he has played a lot of minutes but as well, now we played Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well.”

Arteta bemoaned Arsenal’s injury curse and questioned the fixture schedule ahead of a testing trip to third-placed Villa for Saturday's early kick-off.

He added: “We had a very demanding week at every level. We were asked to play three days later, with one less recovery day.

“We can play minutes but if they can please give us just a little more time to recover and to make the welfare of these players a little bit easier, that would be great.”

Weekend’s Premier League fixtures:

Saturday: Everton v Forest, Newcastle v Burnley, City v Sunderland, Spurs v Brentford, Bournemouth v Chelsea (all 5pm), Leeds v Liverpool (7.30pm)

Sunday: Brighton v West Ham (4pm), Fulham v Palace (6.30pm)