Neil Warnock admits he must wait to see which Cardiff players are in the right frame of mind to play at Arsenal following the disappearance of Emiliano Sala.

Cardiff will be playing their first match since the plane carrying record-signing Sala and pilot David Ibbotson went missing last week.

Warnock says some players have been affected more than others, and he will take that into consideration before selecting his side to play at the Emirates.

• Warnock: Sala disappearance traumatic
• Bamba: Sala part of the team

Cardiff defender Sol Bamba said Sala is a part of the team, despite not having had the chance to train with the club.

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"It was a tough week for everyone, we've all been hurt and affected by it," he said. "Everyone got together and obviously everyone has been talking to make sure we're all OK. But it was a tough week.

"We tried to prepare as normal, but it would be fair to say it wasn't a normal week."

Cardiff are in the relegation zone in the Premier League after losing 3-0 to Newcastle in their last match.

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Arsenal boosted their top-four hopes with a 2-0 win over Chelsea in their last Premier League outing.

With Chelsea not in action until Wednesday, the Gunners would move level on points with them if they beat Cardiff.

Team news

Arsenal have a defensive conundrum with Sokratis Papastathopoulos out for up to a month with an ankle problem and Laurent Koscielny likely to miss out.

Sokratis and fellow centre-back Koscielny were injured in last Friday's 3-1 home defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup, with the game expected to come too soon for the French defender - whose bruised jaw is being monitored daily.

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Right-back Hector Bellerin, centre-back Rob Holding (both knee) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) are long-term absentees, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan (ankle) is back in training.

Cardiff captain Sean Morrison is definitely out as he recovers from an appendicitis operation.

Opta stats

• Arsenal have won all three of their Premier League meetings with Cardiff, scoring eight goals and conceding two.
• In all competitions, Cardiff have lost their last six away games against Arsenal.
• Six of Arsenal's eight Premier League goals against Cardiff have come in the second half, with five of those coming in the last 10 minutes.
• Cardiff have lost their other two Premier League games played on a Tuesday this season, also against London clubs (1-3 vs West Ham, 0-3 vs Tottenham).
• Arsenal are unbeaten in 11 home league games (W9 D2), winning the last five in a row. Only Liverpool (32) are on a longer current such run in the Premier League.
• Cardiff have scored just one goal in their last five Premier League games, failing to find the net in each of the last three. The Bluebirds are the only side yet to be leading at half-time in any of their Premier League games this season.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 23 home Premier League games against promoted sides (W20 D3), since a 0-1 loss against Newcastle in November 2010. They've conceded just 11 goals in that run, keeping 14 clean sheets in the process.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in 33 Premier League home games against sides starting the day in the relegation zone, since a 0-1 loss against West Ham in April 2007 (W32 D1 L0). They've won their last 29 in a row since a 4-4 draw with Tottenham in October 2008.
• Cardiff boss Neil Warnock's three top-flight visits to Arsenal have all ended in defeat, all with different teams in different decades - October 1991 with Notts County (0-2), September 2006 with Sheffield United (0-3) and December 2011 with QPR (0-1).
• Arsenal duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have each scored four Premier League goals against promoted sides this season - no player has scored more so far this term (Harry Kane also four).

Merson's prediction

Arsenal are flat-track bullies!

They don't have any problems with these types of games and I can see them bouncing back easily from their defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup.

They have been very poor at the back and on top of that they have some injury problems at the back so it's debatable as to whether they'll keep a clean sheet, but I'll stick with 3-0.

PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (7/1 with Sky Bet)