Kai Havertz has not been selected for Arsenal's New Year's Day trip to Brentford due to illness. The striker misses out from the squad entirely, not even making the bench.

It was explained by TNT Sports pre-game that Havertz was not feeling well, leaving Mikel Arteta without his main striker. The head coach was otherwise at near-full strength for the match with Bukayo Saka the only other major absentee.

He is expected to be out for a while after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury picked up against Crystal Palace. Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri have been selected either side of Gabriel Jesus in a rejigged attack instead.

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Speaking ahead of the game, Arteta explained his decisions, also leaving Declan Rice to the bench. "Yeah, well Kai wasn't feeling good," he said. "A few players were like this, that's normal. And Declan as well he had to come off the other day, it's the second time he had a niggle. We have nine games this month, and we really have to be careful because of the size of the squad that we have."

Havertz has scored seven goals for Arsenal in the league this season, the most of any player in the squad. He also has three in the Champions League and two in the FA Cup.

The German has been a mainstay in the side for Arteta this season, starting all but one match in Europe as well as 17 of the 18 in the Premier League prior to Wednesday's trip to Brentford. Arsenal are aiming to leapfrog high-flying Nottingham Forest back into second place in the table.

A point would be enough to get the Gunners back behind Liverpool at the top, although the gap would still be six points after playing a game extra. Chelsea's surprise Monday night defeat to Ipswich has also offered the chance to pull away from fourth place for Arsenal.

With three straight wins in all competitions - part of a wider run of 11 unbeaten and eight victories from the past nine - Arsenal have been in fine form since the November international break. Havertz has played a key role in that, scoring three goals with one assist in the last four weeks.

Arsenal XI to face Brentford: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Partey, Odegaard, Merino; Nwaneri, Jesus, Martinelli.