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Mikel Arteta has expressed concern that his squad's chase for honors this campaign is being threatened by a worrying cycle of injuries and a relentless schedule.

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Key midfielder Declan Rice missed the midweek trip to Belgium due to illness. In addition, forward Leandro Trossard and defender William Saliba are still on the sidelines.

There was, on a brighter note, positive news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the Brazilian striker registered to their European squad. He replaces the hurt youngster Max Dowman, who picked up 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 really vicious cycle."

Dowman's issue is the most recent in a long list of fitness problems for the North London side. Since the start of last campaign, they have recorded 95 player absences, the second-highest total in the Premier League.

Extended Absences

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

Arteta rejected the suggestion that training intensity were to blame, citing a lack of opportunity for drills. He emphasized the strain on available players, some of whom have played over 150 games in two years.

Transfer Strategy

Despite a significant off-season spend exceeding £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 matter of a short time," he commented. "It's clear how important those weeks are going to be."

Looking Ahead

The team experienced their initial loss in 18 games at the weekend, cutting their advantage at the summit of the Premier League to two points.

Attention now shifts to the European stage, where a sixth consecutive group-stage victory would all but guarantee a top-eight finish. Forward Gabriel Martinelli could create a club record by finding the net in a fifth successive Champions League fixture.

"We are disappointed with the result, but we have to move forward," he stated. "This isn't like everything is going badly because we lost one game. So we stick together."