Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been left on the bench against Brighton due to not feeling 100%. Kai Havertz misses out entirely again after being ruled out against Brentford with an illness that impacted several players.

Earlier in the week, for the away trip to west London, it was Declan Rice who dropped out of the starting lineup, although he did come on later for a brief cameo. Havertz didn't make the matchday squad at all on that occasion as he recovered from illness. He is once more sidelined for the visit to the south coast with the same illness.

The squad, as a whole, was hit by a bug, Arteta revealed after the 3-1 win on Wednesday. Gabriel Martinelli has a slight issue, hence why he is also not in the starting XI.

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Speaking ahead of the game, Arteta explained his selection. “Hopefully he [Odegaard] will recover very quickly. With Kai it was obvious [that he could not play against Brentford]. He wasn’t feeling well at all and he had very clear symptoms. So stay away from it, put him in a car, and go back to London.

“These things happen. In this period, there are always things - throat, infections, viruses. So I try to delay the lineup as well, as far as possible, because you can get up in the morning and you can have a surprise unfortunately.”

The changes leave Arteta with a rejigged lineup including Thomas Partey at right-back. Jurrien Timber drops out due to suspension after picking up a fifth yellow card of the season before the halfway stage.

Elsewhere, Ethan Nwaneri keeps his spot on the right wing with Leandro Trossard coming into the team. Gabriel Jesus is up front and looking to continue his fine form in front of goal.

A youthful Arsenal bench alongside Odegaard and Martinelli includes Myles Lewis-Skelley, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, and Ismeal Kabia. Former Arsenal centre forward Danny Welbeck is not in the Brighton squad, whilst Tariq Lamptey, Georginio Rutter, Julio Enciso, and Kaoru Mitoma are all substitutes for Fabian Hurzeler.

Arsenal XI vs Brighton: Raya; Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Jorginho, Merino, Rice; Nwaneri, Trossard, Jesus.