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Mikel to make three changes: Predicted Arsenal XI vs. Forest

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta will almost certainly have to work around the absence of William Saliba for Saturday's early Premier League kickoff with Nottingham Forest at the Emirates.

The Gunners lost the France international to an ankle injury five minutes into their1-0 loss to Liverpooltwo Sundays ago; he suffered a sprain in the warm-up but tried to carry on before calling it quits.

While reports from France have suggested that Saliba will be sidelined for up to four weeks, conflicting claims have now emerged, and Gooners are anxiously awaiting a firm update from Arteta.

Nevertheless, Saliba will surely not be considered for selection on Saturday, where Cristhian Mosquera is poised to make his first Premier League start in his teammate's place after a stellar showing at Anfield.

The ex-Valencia man will line up alongside David Raya, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes in an otherwise unchanged defence, although Ben White might return from a knock to offer Arteta another option.

In spite of his magnificent hat-trick for Spain against Turkey, Mikel Merino will make way for a fully-fit Martin Odegaard, who rejoins Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice in a first-choice engine room.

Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres are nailed-on to start in attack while Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz recover from injuries, but Gabriel Martinelli's spot in the side will surely come under threat from Eberechi Eze owing to the Brazilian's mediocre display against Liverpool.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyokeres, Eze

> Click here to see how Forest could line up for this game

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