Mikel Arteta has attributed Arsenal’s latest injury setbacks to the congested fixture list after two players were substituted due to injury in the 2-0 win over Brentford.
The Gunners recorded a hard-fought victory over the Bees in the English Premier League on Wednesday, although it was marred by injuries to two key players.
The North London side who already had both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes out injured, suffered another setback as Cristhian Mosquera was substituted with an apparent knee injury after landing awkwardly.
Declan Rice also came off with a calf injury seven minutes before full time, although it didn’t appear as serious as first feared.
“Probably it’s not one thing but we can help the players and everybody in the league and everybody to do what we have to do”, Arteta said.
“Give us another day and especially the teams that are playing so much in Europe. To everybody in general, I think we can do that because we’re all going to benefit from that.”
Arsenal beat Brentford at the Emirates on Wednesday night to extend their gap at the top back to five points.
Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka got on the scoresheet as the Gunners bounced back to winning ways after last weekend’s draw against Chelsea.
“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”, the Spaniard continued.
“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.”
Arsenal will hope the injuries suffered by both Mosquera and Rice are not very serious ahead of a grueling December schedule.
The Gunners face a crucial clash against Aston Villa in Saturday’s early kickoff, hoping for a win to increase their gap at the top.
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