Arsenal face FC Vorskla in the Europa League on Thursday, with the chance to top the group with a win, but an upcoming North London derby to keep in mind.
Travelling to freezing conditions in Ukraine, Unai Emery has to decide which players it’s worth risking before the game against Tottenham Hotspur three days later.
Winning the game would finish any lingering Sporting CP hopes of finishing above the Gunners, but Arsenal will have another chance to get a win against Qarabag at the Emirates Stadium later in the month. This game against Vorskla isn’t anywhere near as crucial as the Tottenham match, or the Manchester United game next week.
Let’s have a look at how we predict Unai Emery will set his team up:
Goalkeeper and Defence
In goal, Petr Cech is the obvious choice. Bernd Leno performed well again over the weekend, and after starting against Liverpool earlier this month he’ll probably do the same against Tottenham. As a result, he’s not in the travelling squad, and Cech should take his place.
We expect Emery to revert to 4-2-3-1, despite using three at the back on Sunday. It makes no sense to play three centre-backs on this occasion when Arsenal have so few available to choose from.
Stephan Lichtsteiner is fit to travel, so he should start at right-back. Meanwhile, Carl Jenkinson will have to fill in on the left, since Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac aren’t in the squad. Academy left-back Dominic Thompson has travelled, and he didn’t play for the u23s on Monday, so he’s another option.
At centre-back, Rob Holding is the only senior option who has travelled, so there’s no doubt that he’ll start.
Assuming Emery wants to play an experienced player alongside Holding, Mohamed Elneny makes the most sense, as he’s played the position before. Academy defender Zech Medley has also travelled with the squad, but having never played a minute of senior football before we expect him to start on the bench at first.
Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the Full Starting XI
Midfield
Mohamed Elneny and Matteo Guendouzi haven’t had too many Premier League starts recently, so both of them should be keen to get another chance in the Europa League on Thursday. The same goes for Aaron Ramsey, who has been relegated to a bench role in the league for a while now.
However, as mentioned in the section on defenders, Elneny will probably be needed at centre-back. Joe Willock will therefore come into the team alongside Guendouzi. Willock missed out on the u23 match on Monday and he’s been in great form this season, so he deserves a chance.
Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Mesut Özil are too important to risk picking up an injury or even a bad cold from the freezing conditions, so they remained at home.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the Full Starting XI
Forwards
A few months into the season, it finally looks like Eddie Nketiah might start getting some minutes on the pitch for the senior side.
The striker came on at the end of Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth, and he missed the u23 match on Monday too. With Danny Welbeck out, Alexandre Lacazette recovering from a knock and Unai Emery relying on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to play against Tottenham and Manchester United, Nketiah is the only real choice here.
Tyreece John-Jules has travelled too, but Nketiah is certainly the preferred option at this stage, a couple of years senior to Tyreece.
Emile Smith Rowe was also left out by the u23s, and he looks set to continue his League Cup/Europa League run of appearances. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is one of few senior players to make the trip, so he’ll complete the front three.
Click ‘Next’ for the Full Starting XI
Full Predicted Starting XI
