Arsenal face a quick turnaround between fixtures when taking to the field for their Champions League encounter with Lille on Tuesday.
The Gunners kicked off the Premier League weekend on Saturday when hosting Leeds United, who offered them quite the scare before goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Bruno Guimarães clinched a crucial comeback victory.
The Emirates Stadium will once again be packed to the rafters when Lille visit, with Arsenal seeking consecutive Champions League victories. During their opening league phase bout, they were 1–0 winners away at Napoli courtesy of Martin Ødegaard’s winner.
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Mikel Arteta has some intriguing selection dilemmas ahead of Arsenal’s European return, especially given the club’s current injury list. Rotation is inevitable ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Nottingham Forest, but just how many changes will the Spaniard make?
Here’s how the north Londoners could line up midweek.
Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs. Lille
GK: David Raya—The Spaniard is now three games without a clean sheet for club and country, which is a rather unfamiliar feeling for him. Raya will hope Tuesday’s game ends that streak.
RB: Jurriën Timber—Arsenal now have two available right backs following the returns of Ben White and Timber from injury, with the latter likely to earn some minutes midweek having only played the final half-hour against Leeds.
CB: Ezri Konsa—Arsenal should turn to Konsa again given Cristhian Mosquera’s need to be eased back into action, but will hope for an improved showing after the former Aston Villa man struggled against Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the weekend.
CB: Gabriel—The Brazilian could come up against former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud at some point, with the 40-year-old still regularly among the goals for Lille as an impact substitute.
LB: Riccardo Calafiori—After Piero Hincapié picked up an injury after the Leeds match, Calafiori is likely to start back-to-back matches at left back. He’s scored in successive games for Italy and Arsenal.
CM: Bruno Guimarães—Guimarães completely changed proceedings after his arrival against Leeds, providing some necessary energy and tenacity in midfield before scoring an inch-perfect winner. He’s earned promotion to the starting lineup.
Pick Your Arsenal XI!
CM: Mikel Merino—One would imagine that Arteta will rest Declan Rice at every reasonable opportunity this season. While Lille are not to be underestimated—they’re currently second in Ligue 1—this feels like a match for Mikel Merino.
RW: Bukayo Saka—Saka spurned an exceptional opportunity to get among the goals with the final kick of the Leeds match and will be hungry to perform against Les Dogues.
AM: Martin Ødegaard—The Norwegian has been Arsenal’s attacking talisman this season and is currently their sole European goalscorer. Expect him to pull the strings once again.
LW: Eberechi Eze—Noni Madueke was favored on the left wing at the weekend, but Eze should be selected this time around. With Christos Tzolis injured for the foreseeable future, the 28-year-old has a great opportunity to stake his claim.
ST: Viktor Gyökeres—Kai Havertz surprised many by recovering from injury to start against Leeds, but the German’s ineffective performance should pave the way for Gyökeres to earn an increasingly rare start. He scored in all four of Sweden’s matches over the international break.
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