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

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Key midfielder Declan Rice missed the Champions League trip to face Club Brugge due to sickness. Meanwhile, forward Leandro Trossard and center-back William Saliba are still unavailable.

There was, however, better news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the South American striker registered to their European squad. He comes in for the hurt youngster Max Dowman, who suffered an foot problem.

"Practice, no because we don't have time to train. But obviously the fact that you are without players, you are loading other players more, there's a knock-on effect to that and it's a really dangerous circle."

Dowman's issue is the latest in a long series of injuries for the club. Since the start of last campaign, they have recorded 95 player absences, the second-most total in the English top flight.

Long-Term Absentees

• Defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel Magalhães are not expected to be back until 2025.
• Midfielder Kai Havertz continues to recover from surgery and "needs more time," according to the manager.

Arteta rejected the idea that training intensity were to culprit, citing a lack of opportunity for sessions. He emphasized the strain on fit players, some of whom have featured over 150 matches in two years.

Transfer Plans

Even after a significant off-season spend over £250 million, Arteta stated the team is not looking to dip into the winter transfer market.

"At the moment we're just focusing on bringing the players back and hopefully it will be a question of a short time," he commented. "We know how important those weeks are going to be."

Looking Ahead

The squad suffered their initial loss in 18 games at the weekend, reducing their lead at the summit of the league to two points.

Focus now turns to the European stage, where a sixth group-stage victory would virtually secure a knockout phase finish. Winger Gabriel Martinelli could create a club record by scoring in a fifth consecutive European match.

"The team is disappointed with the outcome, but we have to keep going," Martinelli stated. "This isn't like all is going wrong because we lost one game. So we remain united."