Every word from Arteta's pre-Brighton presser

We take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup and ahead of the contest, Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the press.

After defeating Port Vale 2-0 in the third round, we host the Seagulls at Emirates Stadium in what will be our 250th encounter in the competition's history.

Read everything Mikel had to say below ahead of our clash in N5!

on William Saliba’s fitness:

He’s out. We are assessing him, but he won’t be involved in this match.

on Declan Rice:

He will be available.

on Riccardo Calafiori:

Available as well, yes.

on Gabriel Martinelli:

Yeah, it looks like he's going to be out. We have to do some more tests and see the extent of the injury, but this game is going to be too early for him.

on Bukayo Saka:

He's going to be ok.

on Danny Welbeck and Brighton:

Very happy for him, we were teammates and the whole history of him, the good and the difficult moments he has had in his career, I think it's remarkable what he's doing. The same with the team and Fabian [Hurzeler] and the coaches, the continuous work that they've done at that club is incredible. I think Fabian has added something slightly different as well and a very well-prepared team, very difficult to beat them, you've seen the results against the big teams as well. So we expect a really tough match.

on if he will make changes to his side:

We're going to try to manage the minutes and the loads as best we can because, as you say, we have a lot of games coming up with a very short recovery time, which is a bit unusual, but we're going to remain very competitive.

on if he listens to the noise about our title credentials:

That's what we want. I think when our people are excited and when we see that the team is competing at the level, consistently, they are the right reasons to believe and that's the main thing. You want to win big trophies, you certainly have to install that feeling amongst the team, the club and around it, and we're in a really good position at the moment, but we know how early it is and how difficult every game is.

on if he feels like a trend setter with our set piece prowess:

I don't know, but a lot of things that we do in many other aspects, I'm sure teams will pick them up. We do the same with other teams. The best teams in Europe are doing certain things. If we can gather information and then adapt it to your own team, if you find that this could help and be a way to win more football matches, more than welcome. That's the history of humanity.

on the connection with our fans:

We always want more, but I think I said it after the match against Palace, that I really liked it [the atmosphere]. It's always tricky after a big match in midweek against Atletico to reproduce that, but it certainly was a great atmosphere to play football. The more we do that, the more we increase it, the more we maintain it throughout the game, and the more the team feels it, the better and stronger we're going to become, and much more difficult for the opponent to play.

on our forward options:

In the front lines especially, that's where we have more difficulties as well with Noni [Madueke], with Kai [Havertz] out, with Gabi Jesus out, with Gabi Martinelli out as well. So that's the area that we have to be more careful as well, more conscious, because we don't have that many options. So, as I said, we're going to try to manage the load as good as possible to make sure that the players are fresh, they can compete really well and the team can maintain the level that it's showing.

on the importance of the Carabao Cup:

Today, the most important one, because it's the game that we have, it's a competition that we haven't won in many, many years, and it has to start tomorrow. We have to play a great game in order to be able to beat a very good Brighton side, we know that, we are prepared for that, and we have to show it on the pitch.

on Ben White’s fitness:

Yeah, he had a setback and that hasn't helped, but I think in pre-season he was probably our best player. I think he played every game and he was in great form and we need him, because when Ben is at the level that he can show, he's a top player for us, a player that drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well and we need him at his best.

on if he can make the England World Cup squad:

There are still a lot of months to go, and in football, everything can change one way or the other, and if Ben wants to do that, if Thomas [Tuchel] believes he's the right player to do so, I'm so happy for him. He will have here, I'm sure, a lot of minutes, a lot of opportunities and obviously his background.

on the defensive evolution in his time in charge:

Well, yes, because I think we discussed the other day about the very close relationship between keeping clean sheets and not conceding goals and winning major trophies and that's a foundation that we are building over the last three years and we need to continue to do that. Tomorrow, again, in competitions that you are either in or out, you know how crucial that is.

on the noise made around us:

Well, probably it is true because it's such a big club that obviously we make a lot of noise, whether it's good or bad. But that means that people are paying attention to that. We know our history and that's very normal. Hopefully, we make noise for the good things.

on Piero Hincapie’s versatility:

He's a warrior; he's going to bring such intensity, physicality, and emotion to the team as well. He’s quality on the ball; he's a player who is super keen. He can play inside, he can play in wide positions, he's done it, as you said, in different ways, and now we need to get him up to speed because the moment that physically he's at his best, he's going to raise the level.

on Ethan Nwaneri’s positional change this season:

A bit of everything. At the end, the context of Bukayo’s injuries and not having a replacement as well opened that opportunity for him to break in and have a lot of minutes at his age and now that he's more settled, he's more stable, more mature, we see him a lot playing inside in both positions, that's where his biggest threat is. That's where I think he feels most comfortable as well and he can connect better with teammates. But it doesn't mean that he cannot play wide. He can do it still, but I think now we need to start developing more in one position.

on if he sets out who is the first-choice goalkeeper:

I never do that, but I don't do that with any player. I think in the end, they have to earn it. David [Raya] has been incredibly good for us in the last few years and Kepa knew that when he came in, but he's ready to compete. If I have to highlight behaviours in that dressing room and culture, probably I would mention him as number one, because again, he's come into a different environment after winning everything in football, almost, being in the national team, Chelsea, Real Madrid, big, big clubs and he comes here and every single day he's behaving like tomorrow's training session is the most important one in his life. He will have his chances to play, he's in a really good place, and if he plays tomorrow, I'm sure he will be really, really good.

on if Kepa’s mindset has helped improve David Raya:

That connection, I think, and the environment that you create between the goalkeepers and the coaches is unique. They are unique, to be a goalkeeper you have to be unique, to be in that environment, you have to be unique. They are a lot of times, by themselves, they have to do a lot of individual practices and I think Kepa has raised the level, he has created a true great environment for everybody to shine and I think that's down to him.

on if he would still make a goalkeeper substitute in a game:

Recently, we had quite a lot of issues and a lot of the subs have been because players could not finish games, but I don't know, maybe somebody I will do it. If I feel it, yes.

on the setback to Ben White after pre-season:

It was an injury that kept him out for a few weeks and we have to manage his load and he didn't have the rhythm to do that. So the reason why he's not been playing is to manage that. He's in a good place now, he's been training more recently and his feeling has been very good and he will have minutes to play.

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