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Mikel Arteta has voiced fears that his team's chase for honors this campaign is being jeopardized by a worrying circle of fitness setbacks and a grueling schedule.

Fresh Team News

Star player Declan Rice did not travel for the Champions League clash to Belgium due to illness. In addition, forward Leandro Trossard and defender William Saliba are still on the sidelines.

There was, however, positive news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the Brazilian striker added to their Champions League squad. He replaces the injured youngster Max Dowman, who suffered an foot problem.

"Practice, no because we lack time to train. But obviously the fact that you are without players, you are loading other players more, there's a consequence to that and it's a really vicious cycle."

Dowman's setback is the most recent in a extensive series of fitness problems for the North London side. Since the start of last campaign, they have suffered 95 player absences, the second-highest total in the English top flight.

Extended Absentees

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

Arteta dismissed the idea that training methods were to culprit, pointing to a shortage of time for drills. He highlighted the pressure on available players, some of whom have played over 150 matches in two seasons.

Transfer Strategy

Even after a major off-season investment exceeding £250 million, Arteta stated the team is not looking to enter the January recruitment market.

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

Next Challenge

The team suffered their first defeat in 18 matches at the weekend, reducing their advantage at the top of the league to two points.

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

"The team is disappointed with the result, but we have to keep going," he stated. "It's not like all is going badly because we lost one game. So we remain united."