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Arsenal will be without Declan Rice for Wednesday's Champions League clash against Inter. The England international has not travelled with the squad to Milan.
Reports broke on Tuesday of Rice's absence from the Gunners' final training session before their evening flight to Italy, and it was confirmed in the afternoon that the midfielder will not be a part of Mikel Arteta's matchday squad.
The £105m man produced an excellent debut season in north London, as he enjoyed his most productive season of his career on the goals contributions front. Arteta made use of him in a left-sided number eight role, and we also saw his excellent set-piece-taking ability come to the fore.
However, his sophomore year, outside of a couple of performances, has been a struggle. After an uninspiring Euro 2024 with runners-up England, Rice has struggled to dominate in the middle of the park and has often been outperformed by Thomas Partey. Perhaps he could do with a breather.
Declan Rice left out of travelling squad to Milan but no serious injury fears
🚨🔴⚪️ Declan Rice doesn’t travel just for precaution, not expected to suffer any serious/long injury.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 5, 2024
Arsenal staff won’t take any risk as he will be assessed for Chelsea game. pic.twitter.com/eSDyxzROZI
It seems as if the Arsenal staff are taking a cautionary stance over the former West Ham captain, who isn't believed to be dealing with a major injury. Fabrizio Romano reports that Rice isn't travelling to Milan merely as a precaution, with the club hopeful he'll be involved on Sunday against Chelsea.
In the midfielder's absence, expect Partey and Mikel Merino to start in the middle of the park with the returning Martin Odegaard poised to make a cameo appearance off the bench having trained on Tuesday after six weeks out.
Rice's 2024/25 struggles continued at the weekend as he failed to establish control against an aggressive Newcastle midfield. The Englishman had more success in an advanced position later on in the game, but he missed a big chance in stoppage time to draw Arsenal level.
Despite his indifferent form, Rice has played every Champions League minute this term and has racked up the fifth-most minutes in the Premier League. He looks tired. His numbers, excluding shot-creating actions, are down pretty considerably compared to 2023/24, although there have been mitigating factors, including multiple red cards. Most notably, Rice is currently averaging the lowest combined Premier League tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes this season (2.35).
The costly asset has plenty of credit in the bank, though, and there's no reason to believe he can't enjoy an uptick. A break here and staying put over the international break would do Rice the world of good.