Arsenal injury boost confirmed as Bukayo Saka update delivered by Mikel Arteta before Everton

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided injury updates on Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie ahead of Saturday's Premier League showdown with Everton at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners host the Toffees on the back of an engrossing 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, albeit one that came at a cost as Saka was withdrawn inside just 10 minutes due to a quadriceps injury.

Saka sustained his problem during an innocuous action when attempting to pass the ball, and Arteta admitted straight after the game that the England international was not in a good way.

Saka's fitness was unsurprisingly the first talking point of Arteta's pre-game press conference, and while the Spaniard did not officially rule the 25-year-old out of the visit of Everton, the consensus is that he will be sidelined for a few weeks.

"He's got another MRI this afternoon, he had a lot of fluid in the area so it was difficult to understand the extent of the injury, we will probably know more tomorrow," Arteta said.

Mikel Arteta delivers Bukayo Saka injury latest before Arsenal vs. Everton

"We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists. When a player is struggling to walk without pain, when he is restricted, they are not good signs."

With Saka out of contention, Noni Madueke is expected to be given the nod on the right-hand side of the Arsenal attack, with Eberechi Eze returning to the starting XI on the left flank.

Eze was dropped from the starting lineup to face Bayern after an underwhelming first-half performance against Nottingham Forest, but he was trusted to step in for Saka at the Allianz Arena and repaid Arteta's faith with the opening goal.

Alternatively, Arteta can call on 16-year-old Max Dowman, who has now become synonymous with Arsenal vs. Everton after becoming the youngest Premier League scorer of all time in this exact fixture last season.

However, having made just the one Premier League substitute appearance this season, Dowman is only expected to make the bench when David Moyes's men rock up to the home of the Premier League champions.

Arsenal's Piero Hincapie back from ankle injury for Everton clash

Saka will likely be one of three Arsenal players to miss the visit of Everton alongside William Saliba (back) and Christos Tzolis (thigh), although reports on Thursday claimed that Tzolis had an outside chance of being available.

Arteta did not deliver an update on the Greece international in the first part of his press conference, although he did deliver one fitness boost, confirming that Hincapie has recovered from an ankle problem.

Hincapie sustained his injury in the warm-down following Arsenal's 2-1 win over Leeds United on October 10, but he was seen in team training earlier on Friday and is back in the Arsenal ranks for the weekend.

"Piero he trained with us and is available for tomorrow as well," Arteta added, as he now weighs up whether to re-introduce the Ecuadorian to give Riccardo Calafiori a rest or stick with the latter at left-back.

Arsenal enter the weekend three points behind Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, and they will rise to first with a win against Everton if the Sky Blues lose to Aston Villa and there is a seven-goal swing in their favour.