{"id":531830,"date":"2026-04-15T08:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/531830\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:04:13","slug":"six-players-set-to-miss-arsenal-vs-sporting-after-bukayo-saka-and-declan-rice-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/531830\/","title":{"rendered":"Six players set to miss Arsenal vs Sporting after Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Arsenal prepare for their crucial Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie against Sporting, Football London has a look at the Gunners stars who may be missing\"Arsenal<\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Sporting (Image: 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Plc)<\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta will have some major absentees when Arsenal <\/a>play host to Sporting Lisbon in the second-leg of the Champions League<\/a> quarter-final. The Gunners are in dying need of momentum after the disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, in Europe’s elite competition, the signs are promising for the north Londoners. They battled to a 1-0 away victory over Sporting in the first-leg last week<\/a>, with Kai Havertz scoring a last-gasp injury time winner.<\/p>\n

Arteta will need the same level of resilience and discipline when the Portuguese heavyweights arrive in north London, three years after they knocked the Gunners out of the Europa League on penalties<\/a>. As it appears, they will have to do so without many key players – Football London takes a look at who may be absent.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n

As per usual, Arteta kept his cards close to his chest in regard to Arsenal’s injuries. However, Declan Rice was absent from Arsenal’s open training session this afternoon.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the \u00a3104million man, Arteta said: “Well, he’s played a lot of games, and that’s part of the issue. But he’s going to try to do everything that he possibly can to be with us tomorrow. That\u2019s for sure.”<\/p>\n

He also said Arsenal will “have to wait until tomorrow morning” for Rice and several other players. Two of those may be Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber, with both players missing training.<\/p>\n

\"Jurrien<\/p>\n

Arteta said one of Timber and Saka may be fit to feature against Sporting(Image: 2026 Getty Images)<\/p>\n

When asked about the pair and whether they will be able to play a part, Arteta replied, “Maybe one of them, let’s see” before admitting Saka has been playing with an Achilles injury, saying: “It was something he was carrying for a while, yeah. It was an Achilles issue.”<\/p>\n

Against Bournemouth, Arsenal were without Timber, Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, captain Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino, the latter of which being a long-term injury having undergone surgery on his foot. Odegaard was hauled off with an injury “niggle” during the first-leg victory over Sporting – he was also absent from training.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Calafiori, who has not played consecutive Premier League matches since February, the Italian also did not train. However, Piero Hincapie may be involved, having returned to the match-day squad for the loss to the Cherries.<\/p>\n

\"Declan<\/p>\n

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 11: Declan Rice of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on April 11, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse\/Getty Images)(Image: 2026 James Gill – Danehouse)<\/p>\n

No matter who appears for the Gunners, Arteta attempted to rally his players and the fan base ahead of the pivotal second-leg at the Emirates Stadium. When asked to sum up his emotions, he said: “Fire! I’m on fire. I’m on fire. That’s it. Nothing else. I’m dreaming so much. I’ve done so much to be in this position because I know how this club was.<\/p>\n

“I’ve done so much against anything that this is beauty. I just see beauty, opportunity, and I want to get it done for all these people that have been in this journey with us. And because they deserve it, because it’s been unbelievable.<\/p>\n

“That’s what has driven me every single day. I have zero fear. Fear I had when, \u2018Oh, if we don’t get this done, this club, I don’t know what is going to happen.\u2019 That was fear. Now, there’s no fear. It’s just purpose, fire, direction and conviction that we’re going to do it.<\/p>\n

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package<\/p>\n

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"Content<\/p>\n

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.<\/p>\n

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Arsenal prepare for their crucial Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie against Sporting, Football London has a look…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[220,4202,12332,59,2119,101,397,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-531830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-bukayo-saka","10":"tag-declan-rice","11":"tag-gb","12":"tag-mikel-arteta","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uefa-champions-league","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}