Newcastle United top-five race boost as Declan Rice injured and doubt for Arsenal clash

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice is a doubt for Newcastle United's trip to the Emirates Stadium next weekend, which could prove decisive in the race for the Premier League's top-five.

Rice, 26, was absent from the Gunners' squad for their trip to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. Only days prior he had played the entire 90 minutes of a Champions League semi-final away to Paris Saint-Germain.

His manager, Mikel Arteta, told Sky Sports that the Englishman was "not fit". "Declan couldn't even train, so he's injured unfortunately and couldn't make the game."

It leaves Rice with one more week to the day to get fit again if he is to play against Newcastle next up. It's set to be a huge battle in the race for Champions League football, with the Magpies potentially moving up to second in the Premier League table with a win.

This weekend's results saw Manchester City surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw at bottom-of-the-table Southampton.

Aston Villa's win over Bournemouth was not exactly ideal from a Magpies' perspective, but Eddie Howe's side followed up by beating direct top-five rivals Chelsea at St. James' Park.

Another already-relegated side, Leicester City, then did them a huge favour by scoring late on to hold Nottingham Forest to a 2-2 draw.

Liverpool currently lead Arsenal 2-0 at Anfield, which piles on the pressure ahead of the final two games of the season. The Gunners could still theoretically drop out of the top-five with only two matches of the campaign to go.

Here is the top-five race as it stands:

2nd - Arsenal - 67 points

3rd - Newcastle - 66 points

4th - Manchester City - 65 points

5th - Chelsea - 63 points

6th - Aston Villa - 63 points

7th - Nottingham Forest - 62 points

If Newcastle win in the capital next Sunday, there is a possibility that the team many expected to finish as runners-up could slip to fourth. Pressure is piling on Arteta on Co.

If they are without Rice, then it is a serious blow to their preparations against Newcastle with the midfielder featuring in 33 of 36 Premier League matches this term, and had been on a run of 21 starts for club and country prior to this latest injury.