Although Arsenal fans are hopefully expecting Gabriel Jesus to return to the Arsenal squad shortly, Mikel Arteta suddenly has a few injuries and illnesses affecting his choices for the starting X! at Craven Cottage today, especially when it comes to our usually reliable attacking line-up.
With the inclusion of Jesus just looking like wild speculation, we are also missing Trossard and Nketiah, and Smith-Rowe is unlikely to be risked either, having played 70 minutes on Thursday, and the prognosis for Odegaard is not looking good either.
Rice-Nelson replaced Smith-Rowe for the last 20 mins against Sporting and is likely to start, and I can’t see Saka and Martinelli getting any rest either in the near future, but maybe Vieira mat get another chance to impress.
The back line I am sure will revert to standard, with White, Gabriel, Saliba and Tomiyasu in front of Ramsdale, with Partey, Xhaka and Vieira in the middle. Martinelli will likely be the false nine, with Saka and Reiss Nelson down the wings.
So now let’s see who Arteta chooses from his greatly reduced squad…..
Come On You Gooners!!!!