Bukayo Saka ANDMartin Odegaard will miss Arsenal's Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea. The Gunners welcome their London rivals to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening for the second-leg, having won the first leg3-2 at Stamford Bridge.

But Arsenal will be attempting to book their spot at Wembley without key players Saka and Odegaard. The former picked up an injury in the warm up ahead of the weekend's Premier League clash with Leeds United. The England man has been left out of the squad entirely for Tuesday's game, while Odegaard is also missing

Speaking before the game, Mikel Arteta said of Saka's issue: "He's OK, we need to have more tests tomorrow to understand how he is. This game was too (soon) but let's hope that it is not too much."

On Odegaard, the Gunners boss added: "We tried yesterday but he wasn't comfortable so let's see if he's available for the weekend hopefully."

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Saka missed training ahead of the clash with Chelsea, with it being suggested that he is aiming to return ahead of the North London Derby on February 22.

Before that, Arsenal will take on Sunderland and Brentford in the Premier League, as well as League One side Wigan Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Another player that Arsenal are without for the foreseeable future is midfielder Mikel Merino, who will undergo surgery for a foot injury.

Who will win the Carabao Cup? Share your predictions in the comments below

On the Spaniard, Arteta added: "He needs to go through a procedure, which is not always positive. He's a big player for us, a player that has such versatility and capacity to compete in various positions, and that's a big blow.

"It's a very rare injury so we have to wait and see once we have the surgery, how that reacts daily, obviously monitor it throughout the week for the surgery and see. I know Mikel is going to do absolutely everything that he possibly can to come back as quick as possible. But as well you have to respect the healing process and the fact that obviously it's an injury that is quite rare."

Should Arsenal progress to the final of the Carabao Cup, they will take on either Newcastle or Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's men currently hold a 2-0 advantage from the first leg thanks to goals from Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.

Arsenal XI vs Chelsea: Kepa; Hincapie, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber; Rice, Zubimendi, Eze; Madueke, Martinelli, Gyokeres.

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