Arsenal is taking 23 players to Inter Milan today, but Declan Rice is not one of them. Martin Odegaard is finally back, though.

We don’t yet know how bad Rice’s injury is because the player played the whole 90 minutes of Arsenal’s loss to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.

But the news is a big blow after Arsenal’s recent problems in the middle of the field.

Since he joined the club for £105 million from West Ham in July 2023, Rice has been a mainstay in midfield. But Arsenal will have to do without him at San Siro on Wednesday night.

Arsenal has had a rough couple of weeks, and Rice’s absence is yet another blow for the club.

Arteta’s team has lost all three of their recent league games and is now seven points behind leaders Liverpool. On Monday, they were hit with the news that Edu had quit as sports director.

Another good thing is that leader Odegaard is back. The Norwegian has gone to Italy and trained with the first team today.

Because he hurt his ankle while playing for Norway during the September international break, Odegaard hasn’t been able to play for two months.

In their first three Champions League games, Arsenal has picked up seven points.

This is their second trip to Italy this season. In September, they held Atalanta to a 0-0 draw.