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Arsenal's manager has voiced fears that his squad's chase for honors this campaign is being jeopardized by a worrying cycle of fitness setbacks and a relentless schedule.

Fresh Team News

Star player Declan Rice missed the midweek trip to Belgium due to sickness. Meanwhile, attacker Leandro Trossard and defender William Saliba remain unavailable.

There was, on a brighter note, positive news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the South American forward added to their Champions League squad. He comes in for the hurt youngster Max Dowman, who picked up an foot injury.

"Practice, no because we lack time to train. But obviously the fact that you are missing players, you are loading other players more, there's a consequence to that and it's a truly dangerous cycle."

Dowman's setback is the most recent in a long list of injuries for the North London side. Since the beginning of last campaign, they have recorded 95 player absences, the second-highest total in the English top flight.

Extended Absentees

• Defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel Magalhães are not expected to be back until 2025.
• Midfielder Kai Havertz continues to recover from knee and "needs more time," as stated by the manager.

Arteta dismissed the idea that practice intensity were to culprit, pointing to a lack of time for sessions. He emphasized the pressure on fit players, some of whom have played over 150 matches in two seasons.

Transfer Strategy

Even after a significant off-season investment over £250 million, Arteta insisted the team is not planning to dip into the winter recruitment market.

"At the moment we're just concentrating on bringing the players back and hopefully it will be a question of a short time," he commented. "It's clear how crucial those weeks are going to be."

Looking Ahead

The squad suffered their first loss in 18 matches at the weekend, reducing their lead at the summit of the league to two clear points.

Attention now shifts to the Champions League, where a sixth group win would all but guarantee a top-eight place. Winger Gabriel Martinelli could make a club record by scoring in a fifth successive European fixture.

"The team is disappointed with the result, but we have to move forward," Martinelli stated. "It's not like everything is going wrong because we lost one game. So we stick together."