While it is vital for Arsenal to get off to a positive start in the Champions League by beating Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia tomorrow, there is no way that Arsene Wenger can focus on just this game. With another crucial game away to Chelsea in the Premier League less than three days later, the Frenchman must take this into account.
But which of our first team players can he afford to leave out against Zagreb and which of them could most do with a little break before the game on Saturday?
Well, the central midfielders certainly seem to get through the most amount of work. Alexis Sanchez also never stops but the Chilean is a beast and you would not worry too much about his energy levels. But Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are all players that we want as fresh as possible for Chelsea and that is why I think that it could be time for Wenger to start both Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott.
The way Wenger has been alternating them so far means that both are nice and fresh and having three proper strikers up front should also give Arsenal plenty of goal threat. Playing Walcott and Giroud would allow Wenger to rest Ramsey and either keep him on the bench to replace Cazorla in the centre or start him and save the Spaniard.
Starting Ramsey would also mean that Arteta could replace Coquelin without us losing too much defensive strength as the Welshman is better defensively than Santi. What do you think Gooners?