Mikel Arteta drops new Gabriel and Jurrien Timber update ahead of Arsenal's trip to PNE | OneFootball

The Gunners aren't at full strength heading into their trip to Deepdale.

Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on Arsenal defenders Gabriel and Jurrien Timber after they were forced to come off in their game against Liverpool, ahead of their clash with Preston North End in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

The clash between the Lilywhites and the Gunners in midweek will be the second time they have met in just under eight years, having not played each other prior to that last contest since the turn of the millennium.

Arsenal won the game 2-1 in the final minutes of the contest thanks to a goal from Olivier Giroud, after Callum Robinson gave the hosts a lead inside the first seven minutes.

The visitors are a very different outfit to the one that played at Deepdale in January 2017. They are now one of the world's best teams, but one that is also slightly hampered.

Arsenal injury update ahead of Preston

The north London side played another one of their table-topping clashes on Sunday afternoon when they hosted Liverpool. The game ended in a 2-2 draw, but Arsenal left with as many injury concerns as they had before the start of the game.

Gabriel and Jurrien Timber were both brought off due to fitness issues. The former picked up a problem just less than 10 minutes into the second half after a clash with Darwin Núñez, while the latter was only just returning from injury and appeared to be cramping.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta provided an update on the pair's health after the conclusion of the game. He said, via the Lancashire Post: "I don’t know, but he could not run. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if it’s the knee joint or the ankle. They’re assessing him now.

"(Timber) was so willing. I think we’ve done everything we could to accelerate that process. The team and the medical staff have done a great job. We gave ourselves the chance to compete. I don’t know the extent of the injury if there is one. The same with big Gabi. Continue to go."

Arsenal were also without Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney against Arne Slot's side due to injuries, as well as William Saliba, who was suspended.

Because of the current lack of squad depth that the Gunners have, a fairly strong side could line-up to face Preston at Deepdale.

As for Wednesday evening's hosts, they, too, will head into the match off the back of a draw, but theirs was a much more disheartening point than the one Arsenal got. Shortly into the second half, they led 3-0 away at Plymouth Argyle before they threw away their advantage, conceding three unanswered goals, the last of which came two minutes into added time.

To add to the pain of the drop points, Robbie Brady, who has been one of Preston's best players this season, was forced to come off just after the half-hour mark.

"He has done his ankle," said North End boss Paul Heckingbottom on the reason for withdrawing Brady from the contest.

"He jumped for that header and when he landed, he turned his ankle. It has swollen up. We know there is damage there. How much, we won’t be certain until we get him assessed."

Josh Bowler was also absent from the Preston squad on Saturday due to picking up an illness during the week.

Preston need to look at Arsenal game as a free hit

Heckingbottom has said that he is excited to face Arteta's side on Wednesday, and he should be. It's rare that a second tier club gets to play host to one of the best teams in the world.

Now, with that said, of course Preston can't go into the game in awe of their opponents; they need to make it a battle. But, if they do lose, there will be no real shame, unless they repeat what they did on Saturday.

Nobody expects North End to be able to topple the Gunners, but that's what should fuel them to go and try and do exactly that.