Arsenal will play host to Aston Villa this evening with a near-full strength set of options, with the same four players missing from Thursday.
We took on Molde without the three long-term absentees of Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari and Gabriel Martinelli, while Reiss Nelson joined them on the sidelines.
The English winger was in line to start in the Europa League, but for a knock that he picked up in training, but Arsenal’s official website states that he should be back in full training as early as next week.
Calum Chambers continues to work on building match fitness after 11 months out, with his last fixture coming against Chelsea in Arteta’s first official match.
Pablo Mari has not had an easy route back from his injury, having been expected to be ready in September initially, but they the latest is that he should be back in full training after the international break.
The Brazilian remains the same, with his return not expected before the end of 2021, but the hope is that he will be back in full training in December.
Predicted XI:
Leno
Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney
Ceballos Partey Saka
Willian Lacazette Aubz
While it would be easier to predict the line-up should we be sticking with the back three, I feel like the manager will see Aston Villa’s struggling form of late as an advantage to field the 4-3-3 again, and both Ceballos and Saka either side of Partey should give plenty of forward thinking.
As much as I would personally start Joe Willock instead of Ceballos, I don’t believe Arteta will be rewarding his Thursday night form with a starting role, although he should be in contention for minutes.
Who would you be starting this evening? Will Arteta go with three at the back again?
Patrick
