After getting off to a winning start in the Europa League last week, Arsenal are hoping to do the same in the League Cup against Brentford on Wednesday.

Unai Emery decided to name a relatively strong team against FC Vorskla last Thursday, seemingly hoping he could kick-start Aubameyang’s goalscoring form and give Torreira a first start in a game that wasn’t as vital, among his other team selections.

This time around a few players will need a rest though, after the first choice team won against Everton on Sunday. Emery is likely to give one or two youth players the chance to fill in as a result.

Let’s have a look at our predictions to start Wednesday’s match:

Goalkeeper and Defence

Unai Emery hinted he’d give Bernd Leno another chance in goal for this match, speaking after the Europa League win against Vorskla. The German let in a couple of late efforts in the 4-2 victory, but there really wasn’t much he could do about either. He’ll hope to keep a clean sheet this time around.

Another looking for a bit of redemption is Stephan Lichtsteiner, after his mistake led to Vorskla’s opening goal. He’ll give Hector Bellerin a rest after the Spaniard’s good performance at the weekend.

At centre-back, both Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Konstantinos Mavropanos appear to be out injured, along with Laurent Koscielny, of course. Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding will have to keep their places after both played at the weekend, unless Emery decides to give Julio Pleguezuelo a chance.

Nacho Monreal hasn’t had a rest in a few games now though, so I’d expect left-back to be the position where a youth player gets an opportunity. Tolaji Bola is available, or Pleguezuelo could fill in, even though his natural position is on the right.

Dominic Thompson has played with the first-team in training recently, but he still hasn’t made his u23 debut at this point. Bola is the most likely to get a chance.

Midfield

Matteo Guendouzi should come back into the team after being fully rested over the weekend. Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey need the rests. Mohamed Elneny will likely start alongside the French youngster, with Emile Smith Rowe in the third midfield position.

Joe Willock has an outside chance to be part of the midfield trio, after some very good performances for the u23s recently. However, it seems like Smith Rowe is ahead in Emery’s plans at the moment, after his Europa League debut last week.

Forwards

It’s the League Cup against lower league opposition, Özil, Aubameyang and Lacazette all played at the weekend, and Mkhitaryan is injured. If Eddie Nketiah doesn’t get a game under these circumstances then I don’t know when he will. The 19-year-old has five goals in his last five games for the u23s, and more than deserves a chance.

Danny Welbeck will also be part of the front three after his goal last week. Alex Iwobi will take the third spot, as he looked bright coming off the bench on Sunday.

The question is which order they’ll play in. If you’re going to put one of them on the right, Welbeck is probably the best fit. Still, it would be a bit strange to see him move wide for Nketiah, given he’s the most senior striker.

The problem is Nketiah and Iwobi aren’t nearly as effective on the right-hand side. Welbeck might just have to forego his senior privileges on this occasion.

Click ‘Next’ for our full predicted starting XI

Predicted XI