Rice misses training ahead quarter-final

Arsenal have been handed a late fitness concern ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting CP tonight, with Declan Rice absent from Tuesday’s open training session at London Colney.

Rice recently withdrew from England duty against Japan. He returned for Arsenal’s first-leg win in Lisbon last week and also captained the side in their 2-1 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend.

This time, however, he did not take part in group training on the eve of the decisive fixture at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal could also be without Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori, who were all missing from the session.

Saka has now missed the last three matches. Ødegaard has also struggled for consistency this season due to ongoing injury issues. Timber has not featured since the win over Everton last month.

Despite those concerns, Mikel Arteta’s side still carry a one-goal advantage from the first leg as they target a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

They also head into the game looking to respond to their weekend defeat, which allowed Manchester City to close the gap in the Premier League title race to six points ahead of Sunday’s trip to the Etihad.