Sources: Rice (broken toe) doubt for Chelsea clash

Arsenal are weighing up whether Declan Rice can play through the pain after tests revealed he had a broken toe, sources have told ESPN.

Rice sustained the injury in Arsenal’s Premier League defeat at Newcastle last weekend and subsequently missed their midweek 1-0 Champions League loss at Inter Milan.

Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Chelsea on Sunday, and a source has told ESPN that Rice is hopeful of being able to manage the issue and start at Stamford Bridge in a game of huge significance to Arsenal.

The north London side are seven points behind leaders Liverpool and five adrift of defending champions Manchester City. Another defeat — which would be their fourth in seven games across all competitions — would be a damaging blow to their title hopes.

“I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity if he’s going to be fit or not on the weekend. That’s for the doctor. What I can say is he hasn’t trained yet and it’s not clear if he’ll be available or not to play,” Arteta said at a news conference on Friday.

Rice has also been named in Lee Carsley’s latest England squad for upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

It remains to be seen whether Rice actually joins up with the group at St. George’s Park but the source told ESPN that the 25-year-old is keen to continue representing club and country if his body allows.

Meanwhile, Arteta said no team would reach 100 points this season as he suggested the title race was more wide open than in recent years.

Only City — in 2017-18 — have reached that milestone in Premier League history while Liverpool amassed 99 in 2019-20 and City secured 98 the year before.

However with every team having lost at least once in their opening 10 league games, Arteta suggested the margins are tighter throughout the league and one team is less likely to surge clear of the rest.

“I think everybody has been consistently struggling with the level there is in this league and playing in Europe every three days at that level,” Arteta said.

“The temperature has gone up another level, the level has gone up another level. I don’t think anybody is going to do 100 points this year. It will require perfection to keep winning.

“We don’t know how it’s going to play out, if there is a team that is able to do something like this [City’s consistency in previous years]. Everybody is struggling, even if they’re winning. That’s the thing, sometimes the margins were bigger in games. They’re not at the moment.

“I’ve not seen a team being that superior to other teams, but at the end the fact is you have to win and find ways and details to keep the right to win games.”