Heading into the London derby, Arteta revealed that first-choice defender William Saliba is a doubt. The Basque boss, whose fitness updates are best taken with a pinch of salt, also confirmed that Piero Hincapié, Cristhian Mosquera and Riccardo Calafiori would not be able to fill that vacant slot as they remained sidelined with various ailments.

It is not so much that Aston Villa were necessarily better than Arsenal in the Gunners' 4-1 win on Tuesday. Their win wasn't inevitable. It certainly seemed, however, that Unai Emery had Mikel Arteta's number. Villa would absorb the strength of the first press, find a way of drawing Arsenal out of position and spring their transition threats.

Havertz returned to the bench for the first time since August last Tuesday but missed the trip to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed that William Saliba and Leandro Trossard are both injury “worries” ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final away to Chelsea.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta guided the club to a 3-2 win against Chelsea on Wednesday, and the victory replicates Arsene Wenger as he creates history.

The Gunners could be without four key members of the squad for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea

Mikel Arteta has suggested he doesn’t have a ‘cup team’, raising doubts over whether Kepa Arrizabalaga will face his former club Chelsea on Wednesday night.Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the mentality of Gabriel Martinelli after he hit the headlines for the right reasons -- by scoring a hat-trick in their 4-1 FA Cup third-round win at Championship strugglers Portsmouth.