LONDON — Mikel Arteta attributed Arsenal’s persistent injury woes to an unprecedented fixture schedule after two more players were forced off during Wednesday’s 2-0 victory against Brentford.
The Gunners secured their five-point lead at the top of the league thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and substitute Bukayo Saka at the Emirates Stadium, but the outcome came at a cost as both Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice were unable to finish the match.
Mosquera was substituted just before half-time due to a “knee or ankle” issue, while Rice was taken off with seven minutes left after appearing to suffer a calf injury.
This season, Arsenal has been without several key players for extended periods, including Viktor Gyökeres, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Magalhães, and Kai Havertz. The Gunners now face a quick turnaround with a match against Aston Villa on Saturday morning.
Regarding the team’s injury concerns, Arteta commented: “It’s probably not just one factor, but we must support the players, the league, and everyone involved to address this issue.”
“We need more recovery time, especially for teams heavily involved in European competitions. It would benefit everyone if we could implement that.”
“We’ve never seen a schedule like this at any level, not just in the Premier League but in all international competitions as well. We need to find a solution.”
“At some point, this becomes overwhelming, and players are not machines. We need to manage this as best we can.”
Merino scored his tenth league goal for Arsenal, continuing his impressive form as a makeshift center-forward.
Arteta acknowledged that Merino’s unexpected contributions this season have led him to focus on the present, rather than worrying about how to integrate summer signing Viktor Gyökeres into the lineup.
“That’s a valuable lesson,” he said. “All summer, I was concerned about how adding a striker would impact Gabi Jesus and Kai. I had plenty of options up front.”
“I also have a great appreciation for them. The question was how to balance it all. So far, we haven’t encountered issues since they’ve been injured. The lesson is to live in the moment and handle situations as they arise. That’s all we can do.”