Rice and Mosquera limp off as Arsenal sweat double injury blow at Aston Villa

Arsenal left Villa Park with three Premier League points on Sunday after Bukayo Saka’s 59th-minute strike sealed a 1-0 win, but the result was immediately clouded by injury worries over Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera.

Mosquera was the first to go, clutching his thigh as he went down in the 78th minute before being helped off. The substitution forced Ezri Konsa into an unexpected debut at his former club — the centre-back spent seven years at Villa before Arsenal signed him this summer for £51m. Mosquera was able to walk off under his own power, but any muscular injury would likely rule him out for at least a couple of weeks.

The timing is particularly uncomfortable for Arsenal, who are already without William Saliba until at least October. The France international sustained a back injury during the World Cup semi-final defeat to Spain — the setback that prompted the club to recruit Konsa in the first place. Losing Mosquera to a thigh problem so early in the season would leave Mikel Arteta with a threadbare defensive unit.

Just six minutes after Mosquera’s exit, the mood around the travelling support darkened further when Rice limped off and was replaced by Martin Zubimendi. It remains unclear whether the England midfielder’s departure was precautionary or the result of a specific injury, but the sight of him leaving the field will have raised immediate alarm.

Rice endured a difficult summer physically. After playing 55 games for Arsenal in 2025/26 — starting 49 of them — he reported neural pain in his lower back and hamstring during the World Cup, with the relentless campaign clearly taking a toll. Arteta will be hoping the issue at Villa Park was nothing more than a knock rather than a recurrence of those problems.

The Arsenal manager was expected to address both injury concerns in his post-match press conference.