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Arsenal midfield lynchpin doubtful for UCL clash against Sporting
15th April, 2026 11:45 AM
Declan Rice is a doubt for Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final with Sporting CP after missing training on Tuesday, April 15, 2026.
Mikel Arteta says Rice will do everything he can to be fit for the last-eight clash on Wednesday night, but any injury to the midfielder would be a blow for the Gunners in the biggest week of their season
With Arsenal needing to finish the job against Sporting CP on Wednesday, the Gunners lead 1-0 on aggregate; they also have a huge Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, which is billed as a ‘title decider.’
Right decision
“We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how a few of the boys are and make the right decision,” said Arteta on Tuesday.
Asked what Rice’s injury is, Arteta replied, “I don’t want to do that, we have to wait and see how he is tomorrow. He wasn’t able to train.”
However, Rice did appear to be limping during the second half against Bournemouth after landing awkwardly, and Arteta admitted it is “part of the issue.”
“He’s played a lot of games,” said Arteta. “That is part of the issue, but he’s going to try and do everything he can to be with us; that’s for sure.”
Misses
Arsenal have also been missing Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Riccardo Calafiori in recent weeks – and none of them were in open training on Tuesday morning.
Saka has not appeared for Arsenal since getting injured on England duty, and Arteta hopes he will be back in days, not weeks.
“It’s something he was carrying for a while. It was an Achilles issue.
“No. It’s progression. Hopefully it’s a matter of days, not weeks. It’s about loading more and seeing where he’s at.”
Piero Hincapie and Eberechi Eze, who were only fit enough for the bench for the defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday, were both in training.
Beyond Arsenal, football enthusiasts will be closely following proceedings between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
