Six players could miss Brighton vs Arsenal after Mikel Arteta update and double confirmation

Declan Rice will hoping to be fit enough to feature for Arsenal against Brighton after coming off against Chelsea with a suspected knock

Six players could miss Arsenal's match against Brighton & Hove Albion this evening. The Gunners will be looking to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with three points at the AMEX Stadium.

Mikel Arteta's men currently lead Manchester City following the weekend's win over Chelsea, with them having nine games left. City do have a game in hand and will be looking to close the gap when they host Nottingham Forest.

Both Arsenal and Brighton are suffering with injuries ahead of the midweek clash, with the north Londoners facing the potential of being without a number of key players.

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Declan Rice is a potential doubt for the trip to Brighton after coming off in the second half against Chelsea. He was replaced by Christian Norgaard and Arteta admitted he wasn't sure if he was fit.

“I don't know, Declan asked to be substituted, so we're going to have to get checked and see if he's available for Wednesday, unfortunately," the Spaniard said. On Tuesday, Arteta provided another update, saying: "I hope [he is available]. He was much better today.

"Obviously, we haven't really trained because we have only two days to prepare for the game. So hopefully, it's going to be better tomorrow."

Martin Odegaard is also pushing to feature after playing less than an hour in the last five league games. He played 45 minutes in the draw against Brentford before making a 13 minute cameo against Tottenham, but he missed the Chelsea win.

After confirming they didn't want to risk the playmaker, Arteta's update on Tuesday provided reason for encouragement. "We have to wait and see how comfortable he is to do certain actions."

After being in the squad over the weekend, Kai Havertz could earn more minutes in his return to full fitness against the Seagulls. "He's done part of the session, so we will have to wait and see whether he's available and in which condition."

Ben White remains out after missing the last two games with a knock. Fortunately, Arsenal have confirmed David Raya and Max Dowman are fit.

For Wednesday night's opponents, Fabian Hurzeler is only without three players. Stefanos Tzimas and Adam Webster are both long-term absentees, with Yasin Ayari a doubt with a shoulder injury.

"He trained yesterday, so hopefully he reacts fine to the first training session, and then we have another one today," the Brighton boss said on Tuesday. "I'm quite confident that he will be an option for tomorrow."

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings