Marquinhos and Matt Smith have been named in Arsenal’s Europa League squad, but the Gunners have left out other youngsters they had room to include.

UEFA confirmed Arsenal’s Europa League squad this week, ahead of the Gunners opening group game against FC Zurich on Thursday.

The good news is that Arsenal had room to include summer signing Marquinhos and young Matt Smith, who could provide an option in midfield.

Below is the senior squad in full. Note that Bukayo Saka and Karl Hein will be on List B due to their age, they haven’t been excluded. They can still play for Arsenal, they just don’t need to use up a senior squad spot yet.

Goalkeepers

Ramsdale, Turner, Hillson

Defence

White, Gabriel, Saliba, Holding, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Tierney

Midfield

Partey, Odegaard, Vieira, Lokonga, Elneny, M. Smith

Forwards

Jesus, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah, Nelson, Marquinhos

Arsenal have made some strange decisions with the squad. As we explained last week, the Gunners had to leave out one of George Lewis, Lino Sousa, and Reuell Walters, due to the limited spaces available.

But for some reason, the club opted to leave out all three.

William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli, and James Hillson were eligible for List B (as they’re born after January 1st, 2001, and have been at Arsenal for two years), but all of them were included in the senior squad, using up spaces that could have gone to Lewis, Sousa, or Walters.

You wouldn’t expect this to have a material impact on Arsenal’s performance in the group stage, but it will be a blow to the excluded youth trio. Particularly given Walters’ performances for Arteta in pre-season and Sousa’s impressive displays for the u21s recently.

It’s hard to justify Arsenal’s decision on this one. You can only assume the club know something we don’t, as otherwise, it looks like a mistake.