Arsenal welcome Leicester City to the Emirates stadium on Sunday after making a winning start to their Europa League campaign. Given the state of the team news, how will manager Mikel Arteta line them up?
The Emirates club went a goal down against Rapid Wien on Thusrday, but fought back to win the game 2-1. Goals from David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were enough to secure the three points. So how many changes will Arteta be making to the team that took to the pitch on Thursday?
With the North London club set to continue with their usual 3-4-3 formation, Bernd Leno will be in goal. Despite his mistake leading to the opening goal during the week, he will retain his place in the team.
As for the wing backs, it will be a return to the team for Hector Bellerin in place of Cedric Soares. On the left wing, it will be Bukayo Saka who continues his presence, and his flexibility allows the team to build out the attack in different ways.
The three centre backs will be David Luiz, Gabriel and Kieran Tierney. The Scot didn’t play on Thursday and will be fit and ready to go. Gabriel has been one of the most impressive players for the Gunners since joining and will want to keep that run of form going. Sead Kolasinac will drop to the bench.
In the centre of midfield, with Dani Ceballos a doubt for Sunday’s game, we will likely get to see Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey play together. The Ghanaian made his first start against Rapid Wien and was hugely influential in getting the win. Xhaka on the other hand would be coming back in for Mohamed Elneny.
There will be another change in attack with captain Aubameyang coming in for Eddie Nketiah. The Gabonese forward got the winner in the Europa League and will want to start scoring again in the Premier League.
With Willian a doubt for this match, it will be Nicolas Pepe playing on the right wing. And leading the line for Arsenal will be Alexandre Lacazette. These three will be crucial in getting the win and they have to be at the top of their game against a tough team.
Predicted Arsenal Starting XI Against Leicester City (3-4-3):
Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel, Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang