The managers of Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle United all faced the media on Tuesday, ahead of their clubs’ UEFA Champions League fixtures the following day.
Here’s what they had to say about the injury situation at their respective sides.
- READ MORE: Monday’s press conferences: Gakpo, Delap, Palmer + Udogie injury updates
- READ MORE: Slot on Salah: Every word he said in Monday’s presser
ARSENAL
Declan Rice will miss Arsenal’s clash with Club Brugge due to illness.
William Saliba isn’t ready to return either, while Leandro Trossard suffered the recurrence of his recent injury on his comeback match in Gameweek 15.
“No [they are not available]. So, Declan was ill. He was quite sick after the game already, and he hasn’t travelled with us. William is still not available, and Leo again picked another knock in an area where he had the previous issue, and I don’t expect that it’s going to be long, but unfortunately, he cannot be with us.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Messrs Trossard, Saliba and Rice are available
It sounds fairly positive on Rice, who had been keen to be involved in Belgium.
“I think that he needed more of a bed than sunshine because he wasn’t feeling good at all! So, yeah, he will have a couple of days to rest and to get his body right. But today, already, he was very keen to be able to play. And unfortunately, he’s not able to do that.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Declan Rice’s illness will allow him to go away for a few days and rest
Max Dowman (ankle) has joined Cristhian Mosquera (ankle), Kai Havertz (knee) and Gabriel Magalhaes (knee) on the sidelines, meanwhile.
That has allowed the fit-again Gabriel Jesus to rejoin the Champions League squad.
“With Max [Dowman], he picked up an injury last weekend and had to come off. So he did some scans and he is going to be out for weeks. And then we have the situation of Gabi [Jesus], who we were expecting to be training with us by the end of December. But Gabi has been pushing every single day and he kept telling everybody, ‘I am going to be earlier, earlier, earlier’ and he has done it. So thanks to his work and all the work that the medical staff have done with him throughout these months, and we had the possibility to make a swap there and we have done it. On one side, you see Max and his situation and on the other, you see the joy and how happy Gabi is to be back in the competition with us.” – Mikel Arteta
Riccardo Calafiori is able to play in Europe but is suspended in Gameweek 16 due to yellow card accumulation.
He was also namechecked by Arteta in the pre-match presser as someone whose minutes have been managed recently.
“Yeah, a big one. I mean, losing Max again, it’s obviously not ideal with Leo, who is just coming back, that we have to manage the minutes. Willy is still not there. We’ve lost Big Gabi, and we have other players that they could only play certain minutes. Like, for example, Riccy [Calafiori] the other day. But it’s a situation that we have managed since the beginning of the season. We are in December, so it’s almost five months in a remarkable way, and we’re going to continue to do the same.” – Mikel Arteta on how frustrating it is that Arsenal keep picking up injuries
MANCHESTER CITY
In a press conference dominated by questions about Xabi Alonso (“he should pee on his own!”) and the pressures of managing in Spain, Pep Guardiola at least confirmed the reason for John Stones’ Gameweek 15 absence and his omission from the travelling squad to Madrid.
“Leg. I don’t know yet [how long he will be out].” – Pep Guardiola on John Stones
Rodri (hamstring) and Mateo Kovacic (ankle) remain out, too.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Yoane Wissa came through his comeback game on Saturday unscathed, with his manager discussing the striker’s fitness in Tuesday’s presser.
“He looks positive, I think his body language has been very good. He felt boosted by coming on the pitch and playing. It’s probably earlier than we would have wanted but I think he is ready to take on minutes. The challenge we have now is he is going to have limited training time in between games to continue to develop his fitness, so it’s going to be a balancing act we have got to try and get right. But I think he showed in those 20 minutes, his qualities and what he can bring and I think he will only get better.” – Eddie Howe on Yoane Wissa
Eddie Howe confirmed that Newcastle don’t have any fresh concerns from the Burnley game, indeed.
Lewis Hall was benched for that one, a decision that was partly influenced by illness.
Howe was asked about the workload of his two full-backs since they returned from medium-term injuries.
“We don’t have the depth in those positions that we would want at this time of the season but we just have to go with it.
“Lewis was ill before Saturday’s game and we didn’t want to take that risk of pushing him when he was fatigued but he came through the 30 minutes that he played well. Hopefully, both players will be fine.” – Eddie Howe on Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento
And, inevitably, the Tyne-Wear derby cropped up in questioning.
“No, not necessarily. We will pick a team that I think will be strong tomorrow and hopefully strong on Sunday as well. We have got a few injuries, especially to our backline, which has been there for a few games now. and that is an area of concern for us but we come here with a strong squad.” – Eddie Howe on whether Sunday’s Tyne-Wear derby will influence his selection against Leverkusen
Sven Botman (back), Kieran Trippier (hamstring), Will Osula (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee) and Nick Pope (groin) remain out.
