Declan Rice likely to miss Arsenal-Aston Villa due to knee injury

Declan Rice is expected to miss Arsenal's match against Aston Villa on Tuesday evening after sustaining a knee injury in Saturday's 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, Report informs via The Athletic.

Rice, who started the game at right-back, picked up a knee issue during the match but was able to play on and remained hopeful of being fit to face Villa.

Despite the best efforts of player and staff, Rice appears not quite ready, and it looks likely he will be left out in order to avoid the risk of aggravating the issue further. While the full prognosis is not yet clear, the current expectation is that this will be a short-term absence.

Arsenal are hopeful that Rice's unavailability will be offset by the return of Jurrien Timber, who was absent against Brighton. Another right-back, Ben White, is also pushing for inclusion and is ahead of schedule in his return from a hamstring issue.