A total of 13 players could miss Arsenal's Premier League clash against Brentford because of injury. The Gunners have dealt with regular key absences throughout the 2024/25 campaign, but it is their New Year's Day opponents that are in the midst of a crisis.

The majority of the players that could be unavailable on Wednesday play for Brentford, but that does not take away from the magnitude of Bukayo Saka's absence. After picking up a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace before Christmas, the Gunners star underwent surgery recently and is likely to miss the next few months at least.

Raheem Sterling, however, is in line to soon make a return from the minor injury that has kept him out for the last few weeks. "He was gutted because he had a good game against Palace here; he could have scored two goals and made an assist, and in the end, he got injured in a training session," Arteta revealed in a press conference.

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"That was his opportunity because naturally, he would have played in that position. But knowing Raz, I think he will be back quite soon." Elsewhere, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White are expected to remain out, though the likes of Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori are back to full fitness.

As for Brentford, Thomas Frank has been handed four defensive injury blows in the last few weeks, with goalkeeper Mark Flekken the latest to suffer an issue. During the Premier League draw against Brighton, Flekken was forced off during the first half after receiving treatment before deeming he could not continue.

However, Frank has since offered a positive update on the goalkeeper and is hopeful he may even feature against Arsenal just a few days on from appearing to pick up a muscle injury. Speaking in a press conference, the Brentford boss said: "Flekken is more positive; it's still too early to say he will play, but he can maybe. Hopefully, be available."

The Bees also lost Ben Mee in the second period, with the experienced defender joining Ethan Pinnock and Kristoffer Ajer on the list of absentees. Sepp van den Berg has also been dealing with a problem but is set to return to the squad alongside Mathias Jensen, with Christian Norgaard also deemed fit to feature.

Josh Dasilva, Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry are the more long-term injury absentees, and though there is hope the trio can return in early 2025, no clear timeline has been set given the length and severity of their issues. Elsewhere, Igor Thiago and Gustavo Nunes remain out with knee and back injuries, respectively.