On Saturday, Arsenal play their first match of their 2018/19 pre-season schedule, against Boreham Wood, so let’s take a look at the likely starting eleven for the clash.

2Goalkeeper

Hopefully we’ll get a look at Bernd Leno for the first time at some stage, but I’d expect Petr Cech to start the match. Leno only joined the pre-season preparations this week, whilst Cech has been back since the start of the month.

If Leno doesn’t play any part in the match, Emiliano Martinez or Matt Macey will get a chance, as they’ve been back for even longer than Cech has.

Defence

Arsenal are fortunate enough to have almost all of their first-team defenders back in training already. The only exceptions are Laurent Koscielny (injured), Nacho Monreal and Stephan Lichtsteiner (on holiday after the World Cup).

Hector Bellerin should start on the right, with new signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi in the middle. Sead Kolasinac is the only option on the left, without delving into the academy.

Then in the second half we should see Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Carl Jenkinson, one of whom will have to fill in on the left.

Midfield

The midfield options are quite a bit lighter, with Lucas Torreira, Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka on holiday, as well as Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla leaving for new clubs.

If Arsenal are to play a midfield three, there are only really three options: Aaron Ramsey, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock. Matteo Guendouzi is an alternative if he’s ready, but he only joined the team in mid-week. Also, Emile Smith Rowe has been training with the first team, so he might get on for some minutes.

Forwards

This is another area where Arsenal are almost already at full strength. First-team forwards Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are all available, and I’d expect them to start.

There are plenty of other options though, including Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Lucas Perez and Chuba Akpom returning from loan. Then Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson from the academy, who have been in first-team training too.

Click ‘next’ for our final predicted starting line-up