No clarity on whether Declan Rice will be fit to face Chelsea – Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta said there is “no clarity” on Declan Rice’s availability for Arsenal’s game against Chelsea on Sunday.

The 25-year-old has not trained this week, missing Wednesday’s Champions League defeat to Inter Milan, and the manager would not say whether reports the player has a broken toe are accurate.

However, there was a more promising update on the fitness of captain Martin Odegaard after the captain made his first appearance in almost two months as a late substitute in the San Siro.

“I have to be very vague (on Rice) because there’s no clarity whether he’s going to be fit or not for the weekend,” Arteta said.

Asked whether Rice had broken his toe during last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle, Arteta added: “That’s for the doctor. What I can say is he hasn’t trained yet and it’s not clear whether he’s going to be available or not to play.”

Arsenal’s form has slumped in recent weeks and the return of skipper Odegaard to the line-up cannot come quickly enough as Arteta seeks to arrest a sequence of one point from three Premier League games.

Defeat in Milan was their third in six in all competitions but it is domestically where the situation is growing most urgent, with a seven-point gap having opened up to Liverpool at the top of the table.

Arteta confirmed that Odegaard is in line to make his first start since September’s draw against Brighton.

“Everybody that is in the squad is going to be fit and available to start, then it will be a decision whether it’s too early or it’s the right moment for him to make that step,” he said.

The drop-off in form has coincided with sticky patches for a several of Arsenal’s top-four rivals, with champions Manchester City on a run of three successive defeats for the first time in 2018 and Aston Villa also having lost three in a row.

Between them, Arsenal, City and Villa have collectively lost eight of their last nine matches.

“Everybody has been consistently struggling with the level in this league and in general, in Europe playing every three days at this level,” said Arteta.

“The temperature has gone up another level. To win, win, win and win – I would put my fingers here that no one is going to do a hundred points this year.

“It will require perfection to keep winning, and even the teams that are winning the margins have been like this (small), moments in games have been like this. It’s very tough but this is the task.”

Arteta called on his players to translate self-belief into points beginning with Sunday’s game at Stamford Bridge as they look to leapfrog Chelsea back into the top four.

“When you don’t win it affects the mood, affects the energy, but the positive thing is that there is nobody in this room or outside that wants to win more than I do and more than these guys in the dressing room,” he said.

“That desire is there. I had a meeting with them and I can sense it straight away.

“What I sense as well is a big belief in how good we are as a team. We need to take that into winning matches because it’s the only thing that anyone is going to judge.”