Arsenal face Huddersfield Town on Saturday, with a good chance to move back into the top four after Wednesday’s draw at Old Trafford.
Chelsea and Tottenham could well drop points over the weekend, with Maurizio Sarri’s side taking on Manchester City whilst Spurs have to travel to Leicester, who haven’t lost since their game against Arsenal in mid-October.
As a result, Unai Emery’s side have to see their game against Huddersfield as an opportunity to make ground on their top four rivals. Chelsea are currently only ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, whereas Tottenham have a two-point lead.
With a throwaway game against Qarabag on Thursday, Emery can afford to play his strongest side available for this one. Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash:
2Midfield and Wing-Backs
After serving his yellow-card suspension against Manchester United, Granit Xhaka is available again to face Huddersfield this weekend. He’s likely to start alongside Lucas Torreira as usual, with Matteo Guendouzi dropping back to the bench for now.
In the wing-back positions, there aren’t really many options. If Nacho Monreal does start the match, it will most likely be at centre-back, so Sead Kolasinac is pretty much nailed-on to keep his place on the left. He’ll be glad of the opportunity to redeem himself after a mistake against United led to Jesse Lingard’s equaliser.
On the right, Hector Bellerin will keep his place, as always. He’s having a very underrated season so far, and as mentioned previously, Lichtsteiner will probably start at centre-back.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the Full Predicted XI