Arsenal travel to Sheffield United back in the Premier League on Sunday, let’s take a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.

After the disappointment of conceding a late away goal to Slavia Prague on Thursday, Arsenal return to the Premier League, where they’re simply looking to put some points on the board at this stage.

A top-four finish appears to be off the table at this point, but even finishing in the lower European places seems almost impossible right now.

All Arsenal can do is try to put some wins together and see what happens. It looks like they’re 7/4 favorites at Sheffield United, and a win would be good for momentum if nothing else.

But Mikel Arteta also has to go into this match with the Europa League second leg in mind, resting players where appropriate, particularly after all the recent injuries.

Goalkeeper

Bernd Leno will likely start, and Mat Ryan will continue to make the bench. If there was ever a game to give Ryan a chance, perhaps it would be against the Premier League’s bottom club with little left to lose. But we’re not predicting that change.

Defence

Arteta will probably want to make some changes in defence, to keep his starters fresh for the Slavia Prague second leg. But he may be forced into picking Cedric Soares and Rob Holding anyway, due to the lack of alternatives.

The two changes he can make are at left-centre-back and right-back, where he has Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers to come in for Gabriel Magalhaes and Hector Bellerin.

Midfield

Granit Xhaka will probably keep his place, but the other two midfield positions are up for debate.

With Martin Odegaard absent and Emile Smith Rowe just back from injury, Dani Ceballos may have to act as a makeshift replacement at 10 to spare Smith Rowe three games in a week.

Thomas Partey was sloppy against Slavia Prague, so he may well get a rest as well, with Mohamed Elneny coming in.

Forwards

Nicolas Pepe earned a start and a chance to prove himself with his late goal on Thursday, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also made a strong argument for his inclusion in the second leg.

For now, we’re predicting them both to start against Sheffield United, to give the likes of Bukayo Saka a rest after his recent injury, but also so they can prove they’re in form for that second leg.

On the left, perhaps Gabriel Martinelli will finally get a chance in the starting lineup. Willian was fairly anonymous on Thursday, and Martinelli hasn’t started a game since January.

Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Sheffield United