Arsenal Suffers Devastating Injury Setback Just Hours Before Crucial Aston Villa Showdown
Arsenal's central midfielder Declan Rice is expected to be unavailable for the Gunners' clash against Aston Villa on Tuesday night following a knee problem.
The England star sustained the injury during Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion over the weekend, a match where he was deployed as a makeshift right-back. Rice completed the entire 90 minutes at the Emirates Stadium, but a final fitness assessment has ruled him out of his team's last fixture of 2025.
The Athletic indicates the 26-year-old is "not quite ready" to participate against Aston Villa, leading Mikel Arteta to exclude him from his matchday squad for the crucial encounter. The choice stems from precautionary measures; Arsenal are unwilling to risk Rice worsening the injury.
The table-toppers have not established a comeback schedule for their key midfielder, though they anticipate the knee problem will only necessitate a "brief spell on the sidelines."
Rice's Absence Balanced by Significant Defensive Return for Arsenal
Being without Rice for the Aston Villa match represents a significant setback for Arteta's team. The Villans recently inflicted a 2–1 loss on Arsenal earlier this month, and now arrive at the Emirates during an impressive 11-match winning run in all tournaments.
Any misstep by the Gunners on Tuesday night could provide an opportunity for Manchester City to potentially claim top spot with a win against Sunderland on New Year's Day.
The positive development for Arsenal is that Jurriën Timber is expected to return after being absent against Brighton. Gabriel also featured for his first minutes in almost two months at the weekend, positioning him as a strong candidate to partner William Saliba in the heart of defense.
Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori continue to be sidelined, while Kai Havertz will be hoping to finally rejoin Arteta's squad for the first time since suffering a knee injury after the opening weekend of the 2025–26 campaign.