Arsenal travel to Belarus to face BATE Borisov on Thursday, in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-32 tie.

Thanks to their early exit from the FA Cup, Arsenal now play the two legs of the Europa League clash consecutively, with a week-long break in between.

First, it’s a chilly trip to Borisov, with snowy conditions expected on Thursday. Despite the weather, you shouldn’t expect Unai Emery to leave any key players behind for their protection. He’s said from the start that he’s taking the Europa League seriously, and so he should, considering a top-four spot in the Premier League is far from a certainty.

As a result of the fixture list and the growing importance of the Europa League, we expect Emery to pick a very strong side in midweek. Get the job done in the first leg and he can ease off in the second and rest players for a weekend trip to Southampton.

Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the fixture.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Even though we expect Unai Emery to go with his strongest team in general, the one exception is likely to be in the goalkeeping position. Bernd Leno hasn’t played in the Europa League since October, and this is probably Petr Cech’s best chance to get a game between now and his summer retirement.

Leno will likely return to the team in the later rounds, assuming Arsenal progress and the German is still in favour with Emery. For this one, though, we’re going to predict Cech taking his place.

In front of the goalkeeper, Arsenal should have a few players returning. The likes of Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all missed out on the trip to Huddersfield, but could all be back in time for BATE Borisov. As a result, there’s less need to play three at the back, particularly with so few backup centre-backs.

Assuming Emery switches to a back four, Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles should retain their places as full-backs. Stephan Lichtsteiner has been underperforming, and Kolasinac’s form has been very good if you ignore his weekend own goal.

With Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Rob Holding still out, and Konstantinos Mavropanos ineligible for selection, Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi are the clear choices in defence. Nacho Monreal will be available on the bench to cover centre-back and left-back.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Midfield

The big question here is whether Emery will go with a midfield trio or a sitting pair with a couple of wingers behind two strikers. The latter option has worked well on the rare occasions the Spanish head coach has utilised it, particularly against Fulham earlier in the season.

The addition of Denis Suarez in the January window and the return of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from injury, as well as the ongoing saga with Mesut Özil, makes it seem much more likely Emery will play a couple of wide players than a number 10.

If that’s the case, and he wants to fit two wide players into the team without having to drop Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette, there’ll just be two in midfield.

Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi played the positions at the weekend, thanks to Granit Xhaka’s injury. Xhaka only just missed out on the trip to Huddersfield though, so he should be back in time for this one. He’ll probably take Guendouzi’s place, pairing with Torreira, who got some extra rest after coming off early against Huddersfield.

Mohamed Elneny isn’t likely to start, but he should be an option from the bench.

Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Forwards

In the two wide positions, Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will probably keep their places after their performances at the weekend. Both put in a good shift and linked up with the wing-backs well. Denis Suarez is still waiting for his full debut, but it would be safer to give it to him back at the Emirates, after getting a result in the first leg.

Up front, it’s difficult to look past Aubameyang and Lacazette if they’re both fit and healthy. Aubameyang missed Saturday’s match with illness, but Emery seemed to imply it was a close thing going into the game, so he should return to the starting eleven.

As a result of those four selections, it seems Mesut Özil and Aaron Ramsey are set to miss out again. Both were already doubts anyway, with Ramsey’s fitness status unknown after his knee injury, and Özil also recovering from illness.

If they return in time, they’ll probably make the squad. Otherwise, it might be time for more first-team call-ups for the likes of Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah.

Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI

Predicted Starting XI