Arsenal will travel to King Power stadium on Wednesday to take on Leicester City for their first Carabao Cup game of the season. Now that we know the team news, let’s see which players are expected to make the starting eleven.
The Emirates club had to work had to get past a spirited West Ham side on Saturday. Goals from strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah proved to be the difference and ensured the three points for Arteta’s side. In the cup competition, however, we will see some squad rotation.
The team will line up in their usual 3-4-3 formation. In goal, we could see Alex Runarsson make his Gunners debut after completing his move from French side Dijon. He will get a start to give Bernd Leno a rest.
William Saliba is in line to make his official debut and will be one of the three centre backs. Alongside him, David Luiz and Kieran Tierney are expected to provide some company. The Scot did not play on Saturday, but should be available for this game.
As for the midfield four, we will be seeing four changes from the Premier League game. Mohamed Elneny and Joe Willock should take the place of Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka. With a tough trip to Liverpool coming up next, the Gunners’ preferred defensive midfield duo will need to be fresh.
On the flanks, both Hector Bellerin and Bukayo Saka should be rested for Wednesday’s game. In their place, we will likely get to see Cedric Soares and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
We should expect more changes in the attack as well.
Willian, Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have worked well so far but we could get to see a new trio upfront. On the wings, Nicolas Pepe should start in place of Willian, providing some pace to threaten the Leicester defence.
On the opposite flank, Reiss Nelson, who impressed in pre-season, will take the place of the captain.
As for the central striker, Nketiah will surely be given an opportunity after getting the game winner on Saturday. He will get another chance to show Mikel Arteta why he deserves to be ahead of the French forward in the pecking order.
Arsenal FC Predicted Starting Lineup vs West Ham United 3-4-3:
Alex Runarsson, Kieran Tierney, William Saliba, David Luiz, Cedric Soares, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock, Nicolas Pepe, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah