Mikel Arteta met with the press ahead of Tuesday night’s Premier League game against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

With Arsenal looking to maintain their spot at the top of the Premier League table, where they currently lead Liverpool by two points, Manchester City by three points, Tottenham by six points, Manchester United by nine points and Chelsea by 14 points, this is the first time the two sides have met in the league in 32 years.

Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Mikel Arteta gave updates on Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who went off against Wolves on Saturday with what seemed to be another calf problem.

“He’s feeling perfect after the injury and how we managed his load,” Arteta said about White.

On the subject of Tomiyasu, things were somewhat more vague. “We assessed him after the game,” Arteta said, not adding what, exactly, that assessment revealed.

“We took him out for precaution. We will wait. Whether it’s useful to use him we’ll decide tomorrow. He’s a strong boy, hopefully, he’ll be fine.”

Arsenal are of course without Jurrien Timber, who is hopeful he will feature at some point this season, and Thomas Partey, who will be absent until the new year at least.

Emile Smith Rowe is still also sidelined.

Arsenal’s Albert Sambi Lokonga, on loan with Luton, is ineligible for this game. The midfielder is now fit after being sidelined with a thigh injury since the end of September.

Lokonga only played 132 minutes before his injury and has only just returned to fitness.

Luton Town manager Rob Edwards is hopeful that defenders Tom Lockyer and Teden Mengi will recover in time for the game against Arsenal.

Both players were substituted during their recent 3-1 loss to Brentford.

Edwards, in his pre-match press conference, mentioned that a decision on their availability will be made closer to the match day.

He noted that Mengi’s injury appears less serious than initially feared.

Wing-back Alfie Doughty is also nearing a return after missing the Brentford game due to a hip injury.

However, midfielder Marvelous Nakamba is likely to miss the game against Arsenal.

Historically, Arsenal have struggled at Luton, failing to win in their last 10 visits following a win in 1984, with six draws and four defeats in that time.

The teams also share a memorable (?!) moment in cup history, with Luton defeating Arsenal 3-2 in the 1988 Football League Cup final.

Tuesday’s match will be their first Premier League meeting, with Arsenal having a strong record against first-time opponents in the league, barring a defeat to Brentford when the game should have been postponed due to Covid.

For Luton, games against top league leaders have been challenging, with only one win in their last 14 such matches, their last victory being against Liverpool in 1991.

Luton currently sit 17th in the league table, two points ahead of Everton who, of course, received a 10-point deduction.