Arsenal have a number of lingering injury doubts when they take on Aston Villa in today’s early Premier League kick-off.

The Gunners restored their five point lead at the top of the table on Wednesday against Brentford but some fans watched on in horror as two more players limped off with knocks.

The biggest concern was for Declan Rice, ever-present in the team this season, with the midfielder seen clutching his calf before coming off late on in the game.

Rice told reporters he was ‘fine’ as he left the Emirates later that night but Mikel Arteta was giving little away when asked for an update on the England international on Friday.

A late decision will be made in the midfielder with Arteta stressing ‘every hour is important’ in the lead-up to kick-off.

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