🔗 Share this article Mikel Arteta Warns Fitness Crisis Could Undermine The Gunners' Trophy Hunt Arsenal's manager has voiced fears that his team's pursuit for titles this season is being jeopardized by a worrying circle of fitness setbacks and a relentless fixture list. Latest Team Update Star player Declan Rice did not travel for the midweek trip to face Club Brugge due to illness. In addition, attacker Leandro Trossard and defender William Saliba remain on the sidelines. There was, on a brighter note, better news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the Brazilian striker registered to their European squad. He comes in for the hurt youngster Max Dowman, who suffered an foot injury. "Practice, no because we don't have time to train. But clearly the fact that you are missing players, you are placing demands on other players more, there's a knock-on effect to that and it's a truly vicious cycle." Dowman's setback is the most recent in a long series of fitness problems for the North London side. Since the beginning of last campaign, they have recorded 95 player absences, the second-most total in the English top flight. Long-Term Absences Defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel Magalhães are not expected to return until 2025. Midfielder Kai Havertz still recover from knee and "requires more time," according to the boss. Arteta dismissed the idea that training intensity were to culprit, citing a shortage of opportunity for sessions. He highlighted the strain on available players, some of whom have featured over 150 games in two years. Transfer Strategy Even after a significant off-season investment exceeding £250 million, Arteta stated the club is not looking to enter the January recruitment market. "At the moment we're just concentrating on bringing the players back and with luck it will be a matter of a short time," he said. "It's clear how crucial those weeks are going to be." Next Challenge The squad suffered their first loss in 18 games at the weekend, reducing their advantage at the top of the Premier League to two clear points. Focus now shifts to the Champions League, where a sixth consecutive group win would all but secure a knockout phase finish. Forward Gabriel Martinelli could make history by scoring in a fifth consecutive Champions League match. "The team is disappointed with the result, but we have to keep going," Martinelli said. "It's not like all is going badly because we lost one game. So we remain united."