soccer.london takes a look at how Mikel Arteta could set up his side for their Premier League clash with the Eagles at the Emirates
After Thursday night’s Europa League disappointment at the hands of Sporting CP, Mikel Arteta has admitted his side have 11 finals left this season.
“The disappointment isn’t going to go away, it’s there now,” he said after the penalty shootout defeat in his post-match press conference. “But there is also clarity. There are 11 games left now and we have a final against Crystal Palace. We have to recover and put all the focus there and win.”
Palace are the first of these and with Manchester City playing in the FA Cup, Arsenal have the opportunity to open up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League heading into the international break. With that in mind, it is crucial that Mikel Arteta gets his team selection right. Here soccer.london takes a look at how the Gunners could line up.
Ramsdale couldn’t do much to keep the effort out from the halfway line, but he should have done better in the penalty shootout against Sporting. Regardless, the fact that he played in the game showed how clearly he is as Arsenal’s number one right now.
Ben White would probably have started against Crystal Palace anyway, but with Takehiro Tomiyasu potentially out for the long term, the England international is certain to be ready for the XI on Sunday.
Arsenal continue to assess William Saliba after he pulled out of the Sporting clash with a back injury. However, playing him here feels like a risk. Rob Holding is next in line to start if the Frenchman becomes unavailable.
The Brazilian is guaranteed to start again in the Premier League this weekend. He was as impressive as ever on Thursday and will look to continue that against a potentially difficult opponent in Wilfried Zaha.
Having started ahead of Kieran Tierney himself in the Europa League, Oleksandr Zinchenko is 100% first choice right now. That is when he will play if he is fit. He is fit for this one so he will play.
Jorginho may have played a lovely ball through to Martinelli for Xhaka’s goal on Thursday, but his limitations were exposed in transition. Thomas Partey excels in these moments and will be back in the lineup for Sunday.
The Swiss international feels he has returned to his box-to-box best over the past few games. He will look to keep it going before he leaves for the national team.
The level of Arsenal performance simply went up a notch when Martin Odegaard came on against Sporting. The Norwegian is the technical and psychological leader in this group and is back in the starting 11 this weekend.
After Mikel Arteta took the unusual step of resting Bukayo Saka for Reiss Nelson on Thursday, he feels almost certain to return to the lineup on Sunday.
He may not complete the 90 minutes, but after Leandro Trossard ended up playing well over an hour on Thursday night, having just returned from injury, Gabriel Jesus feels a decent call to start this weekend. Trossard will certainly feature in the game, but Jesus looked up to speed against Sporting and ready to play again in the Premier League.
He may have missed the decisive penalty on Thursday night, but Gabriel Martinelli should be back in the starting lineup for Sunday. The Brazilian is in excellent form in the league and wants to pick up that form.