Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has delivered a troubling injury update ahead of Wednesday’s EFL Cup meeting with Brighton.

The Gunners welcome the Seagulls to the Emirates in midweek as they look to book their place in the next round of the competition.

Arsenal are unbeaten in 10 heading into the clash with Brighton and have won their last seven following Sunday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Eberechi Eze scored his first goal of the season in the narrow victory over his former employers, but home success came at a cost.

Arteta forced into multiple subs on Sunday

William Saliba was taken off at the break with his withdrawal injury related, while Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori didn’t play the full 90 against Palace.

On the decision to take Saka off midway through the second half at the weekend, Arteta said: “He’s been ill, he hasn’t trained really, so we didn’t know whether he was going to be fit, so he made a big effort to be available today.

“The doctor was brilliant as well to guide us, to give us the best opportunity for him to be in the best possible condition, so he’s managed to play a few minutes.

“The longer the game went on, the more he was going to fatigue and risk an injury, and we didn’t want to take that risk.”

Saliba to miss Brighton welcome

However, Arteta has confirmed that Saka, Rice and Calafiori will all be fit to face Brighton on Wednesday night, but the prognosis isn’t so positive for Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli, who replaced Saka on Sunday.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Arteta said: “Saliba is out. We are assessing him but he won't be involved in this match."

And on Martinelli, he added: “Martinelli, it looks as well as though he is going to be out.”

Saliba has already endured a spell on the sidelines this season having come off after just five minutes due to an ankle injury in the 1-0 loss at Liverpool back in August.

The Frenchman then returned for the 1-1 draw with Manchester City last month having missed out on international duty.

Arteta must now decide who starts in Saliba’s absence on Wednesday with Cristhian Mosquera, who replaced the France star on Sunday, expected to get the nod.

Fellow summer signing Piero Hincapie is also an option at centre-back against Brighton, who make the trip to the capital on the back of a 4-2 loss at Manchester United on Saturday.