Arsenalboss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Tuesday night's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea has come too soon for Bukayo Saka, but is hoping the attacker will be back soon.

Saka was left out of the Gunners' matchday squadfor the game against the Blues after sustaining an injury in the build-up to Saturday's 4-0 win over Leeds United.

The 24-year-old was set to start at Elland Road, but was escorted down the tunnel by a physio before being replaced by Noni Madueke. He appeared to suffer a hip problem.

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Speaking to reporters after the game, Mikel Arteta confirmed that Saka had a 'little niggle'. The Spaniard said: "In the warm-up, he had a little niggle, he wasn't comfortable starting the game, so immediately we made a decision to make that change and bring Noni in.

After Saka was left out of the team against Chelsea, Arteta was once again quizzed on the England international's fitness. "He's OK, we need to have more tests tomorrow to understand how he is," the Spaniard said.

"This game was too [soon] but let's hope that it is not too much."

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Martin Odegaard was also missing from the squad against their London rivals. football.london understands that the Norwegian's absence is a precaution and nothing major.

Arteta told Sky Sports: "During the [Leeds] game he felt a little niggle. We tried yesterday but he wasn't comfortable so let's see if he's available for the weekend hopefully."

Mikel Merino is another player currently unavailable to Arteta after suffering a foot injury. The 29-year-old has missed the last two games and will have surgery to fix the issue.

A statement from Arsenal read: "Further to sustaining a foot injury towards the end of our game against Manchester United on January 25, subsequent assessments and specialist reviews have confirmed Mikel Merino has a bone injury in his right foot.

"Mikel will have surgery in the coming days and will then begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme. Mikel is expected to be out of action for an extended period, with the aim of returning to full training before the end of the season.

"Everyone is fully focused on supporting Mikel to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible."