Arsenal will be without one of their key defenders for their Premier League season opener against newly-promoted Fulham on Saturday evening.
The North London club got their season off to a perfect start as they emerged victorious against Liverpool to take home the Community Shield. In the penalty shootout that decided the match, Arsenal were perfect from the spot with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring the decisive penalty.
(For the Arsenal season preview go here)
So how will they line-up in Saturday’s game?
The big injury news, as per The Athletic, is that David Luiz will be out of this one with a neck injury. It is suggested that the Brazilian defender hasn’t been training, and could find himself out for as long as six weeks. Luiz is thought to have suffered the injury during the Community Shield contest and now manager Mikel Arteta will have to look at other options.
Rob Holding is likely to take up the Brazilian’s place and slot into the back three. The other good news in terms of the defence is that new signing Gabriel has started training with the first team. Another summer signing, Willian, has also been taking part in training and could make his Gunners first team debut.
Two people who might make a surprise return to the squad are midfielders Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi. Ozil did play in a pre-season game against Aston Villa and it is reported that he could make a return to the first team.
Guendouzi has been allowed to train with the first team and could also be in contention for a starting spot, after Arteta having had attitude issues with French midfielder last season. The Gunners have a healthy squad and will look to kick-start the season with a win.
With matches coming thick and fast, it is important to get off to a rollicking start. The focus will be on Aubameyang who will want to continue his great form. On the other side, Fulham have now returned to the Premier League having spent a season down in the Championship. They will also want to start well, and set a tone for the season that would enable them to play well enough to stay up.
Arteta is very likely going to continue with his 3-4-3 formation which will see some familiar names on the team sheet. We have our lineup prediction posted here.