Seven youngsters seem set to travel to Belarus to feature in Arsenal’s Europa League match against BATE Borisov on Thursday.
While Arsenal’s first team were playing against West Bromwich Albion on Monday, the u23s were playing a match against Everton.
However, there were a number of familiar faces missing from the line up against the Toffees, suggesting that they’re being held back for Europa League participation, reports Football.London.
Arsène Wenger confirmed after the West Brom game: “I will go (to Borisov) with a team of senior players and certainly with a young bench.”
Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah, Josh Dasilva, Matt Macey and Chuba Akpom were all left out of the game, and reports claim that all six were left out to be ready for the game with Belarus, as well as Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who featured for the last 15 seconds of Arsenal’s win over West Brom.
I believe Macey is likely to be on the bench again for David Ospina in goal. Meanwhile, Maitland-Niles started against Doncaster Rovers and Köln, so he seems the closest to a start.
Reiss Nelson, who started against Doncaster Rovers, is surely next on the list, as the 17-year-old continues to make waves with the academy. Meanwhile, Joe Willock and Josh Dasilva, who both made League Cup substitute appearances, could yet have some part to play.
Willock, in particular, was compared to Jack Wilshere by Arsène Wenger in his pre-match programme notes, where he said there are “some similarities” between the two.
Finally, Eddie Nketiah and Chuba Akpom are both yet to get any minutes for the senior side, but Akpom said recently that he hopes to get his Arsenal career back on track and he’s just waiting for a chance.
In my opinion, Wenger is sure to give Nketiah a chance as well before long given Eddie’s scoring record for the academy and good performances in pre-season (hitting the post twice).
Based on what Wenger said above, the majority will start on the bench. Nevertheless, it’ll be another opportunity for Arsenal’s youngsters to live up to the hype.