William Saliba could be handed new role as Mikel Arteta is without Arsenal stars vs Brentford

Amid all the line-up predictions and debates over who should be rested, it could be that there are minimal changes to the Arsenal matchday squad for Wednesday night's Carabao Cup tie against Brentford.

Of course, there will be at least one enforced alteration following Declan Rice's substitution at half-time of the North London Derby at the weekend. Whilst the midfielder's back injury isn't thought to be too serious, as football.londonunderstands he isn't expected to be risked at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Therefore attentions turn somewhat to Saturday's Premier League fixture away at Bournemouth and managerMikel Arteta is hopeful his £105million summer signing is passed fit for that: «He hasn't trained yet. He couldn’t carry on in the game,» the Spaniard said in the pre-Brentford press conference.

«He was uncomfortable. Hopefully, it’s not something big. We are confident it’s nothing big. He had to leave the pitch and that’s never a good sign. Hopefully, it will progress in the next few days. He won’t be available. Let’s see if he has a chance or not (for the weekend vs Bournemouth).»

Who replaces the Gunners' record signing remains to be seen but he is one of several first-team players who will sit out the Brentford cup tie with Arteta confirming that Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard remain sidelined through injury.

There is also a concern overBukayo Saka. As reported by football.london, the England international was in severe pain after taking a knock on his foot which resulted in his late withdrawal against Spurs and it's almost certain he too won't be risked against Brentford with doubts raised over his availability at the weekend.

Arsenal line-ups vs Brentford with Lewis-Skelly