Arsenal travel to Dundalk for their final game in the UEFA Europa League group stages. How will manager Mikel Arteta respond to Sunday’s resoudning defeat to Tottenham, when he lines up his teammate for this one?
The North London club can make it six wins out of six in UEL play if they beat the Irish side on Thursday. They will want to mount a good comeback after losing 2-0 in the North London derby. What changes will be made to this first team for this game?
There are two injury problems that the Gunners have to deal with. Both Thomas Partey and David Luiz will not be available for this match, with the Ghanaian having re-aggravated his injury against Spurs.
Arteta has the luxury of rotating his squad here, to give some of the fringe players an opportunity in this one. The Emirates club are likely to set up on Thursday night in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Alex Runarsson in goal.
In all likelihood, it is going to be an entirely new starting XI. Cedric Soares and Sead Kolasinac will start as the full backs. As for the centre backs, it will probably be Shkodran Mustafi and Pablo Mari who will get the nod.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Mohamed Elneny will be the midfield duo after they impressed last week against Rapid Wien. Their mobility and energy proved to be the key for the Gunners. A lot of the attacks were started by them and their willingness to pass forward will be needed once again here.
The trio that will play ahead of them will be the dynamic threesome of Nicolas Pepe, Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock. They can change their positions regularly which makes them a handful for any opposing defence to deal with. Pepe in particular has had a great Europa League campaign and will want to finish the group stages on a high.
Eddie Nketiah will start as the central forward, another player who has impressed this season. While a win will not make up for Sunday’s defeat to Spurs, it will put a smile back on the faces of the fans.
Arsenal have enough quality in their team to finish with a perfect record in Europe, and if they play with the same freedom that they exhibited in other games, a win will be achieved.
Predicted Arsenal Starting XI Against Dundalk (4-2-3-1):
Alex Runarsson, Cedric, Shkodran Mustafi, Pablo Mari, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mohamed Elneny, Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah