Preston North End vs Arsenal team news with 9 outs and 2 doubts of potential banana skin cup tie

Arsenal are in midweek action once again as the fixtures come thick and fast for Mikel Arteta and his men.

The Gunners boss isn't helped by a long list of injury worries ahead of the potential banana skin visit to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. Paul Heckingbottom's side sit 16th in the Championship, but are buoyed by an undefeated run of five matches.

Here's your Preston North End vs Arsenal team news.

Arsenal team news

Mikel Arteta could return French defender William Saliba to his starting XI against Preston North End after the player missed out of the draw against Liverpool. The 23-year-old served a one-match suspension for the red card picked up against AFC Bournemouth earlier this month.

There remain issues to contend with in defence nonetheless. Riccardo Calafiori will be out for a 'few weeks' having picked up a knee injury against Shakhtar Donetsk last week and will join long term absentees Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney in the treatment room.

Brazilian defender Gabriel limped off in the Premier League match against Arsenal with little known about the severity of that injury. The player did share a photo on social media of a compression sleeve over the muscle, which would suggest a rest midweek is likely.

Jurrien Timber also failed to complete the full game against Liverpool on his return from injury and is a doubt once again. Martin Odegaard continues his absence with an ankle injury picked up on international duty in September.

Preston North End team news

Preston North End will be without striker Will Keane for another couple of weeks due to a tendon injury. Meanwhile, the experienced Robbie Brady picked up an ankle problem against Plymouth Argyle at the weekend and is expected to miss the cup tie.

Speaking after the match, Heckingbottom said: “It’s a nasty ankle one. He obviously jumped for the header, came down and landed on the lad’s foot - which has meant he’s flipped his ankle. So, he has got ankle ligament damage there and we are talking weeks.

"We won’t be seeing Robbie for a bit. Hopefully, when we do get him back, we get him back in the place we left him - because he was performing really well for us. Josh (Bowler) was ill and he has trained today. So yeah, Robbie out and Josh back in (for Arsenal).”

Defender Patrick Bauer suffered a nasty elbow injury in the Carabao Cup tie against Fulham and has undergone surgery but needs more time. Meanwhile, Ched Evans hasn't played yet this season with a knee issue.

Striker Milutin Osmajic won't play against Arsenal either as he served an eight-game ban for a bite on Blackburn Rovers man Owen Beck earlier this month.