Arteta criticises fixture calendar amid Arsenal’s growing injury list

Arsenal secured a 2-0 victory against Brentford, going five points clear at the top of the Premier League after matchday 14. However, Mikel Arteta was far from happy as both Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice were both forced off the pitch in the 44th and 83rd minutes.

According to English media reports, Mosquera picked up a knee or ankle problem. Rice, meanwhile, suffered a calf issue. Both of them are doubtful for this weekend’s clash against Aston Villa.

Arsenal have endured long absences for a number of key players this season, including Viktor Gyökeres, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Magalhães and Kai Havertz and William Saliba. They now have little time to recover before travelling to Aston Villa for Saturday’s early kickoff.

In the post-match conference, Arteta admitted he was unhappy with the hectic schedule Arsenal are having to deal with: “We've never had such a schedule at every level, not only in the Premier League but every competition internationally as well. So we need to try to do that please.

"I think it's common sense. At some point this becomes too much and the players are not machines. But we have to try to do that when we can."

"We had a very demanding week at every level. We were asked to play three days later, with one less recovery day than them.

"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."

Arsenal endured a tough week, taking on Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea all within seven days. Despite the hectic schedule, the Gunners came away with victories in all three matches.