Arsenal will make the trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool this evening with doubts over some of our players, while two are already ruled out.
The Gunners have the chance to move into the fourth with a win this evening should they beat the Reds in their home stadium, and while that wouldn’t have been an easy task with our full squad available, we appear to have some key absentees.
Granit Xhaka remains ruled out as confirmed by Arsenal Media, with the Swiss international not expected to return to full training until 2022, while Sead Kolasinac succumbed to injury during the international break, with him being forced to be replaced against Finland.
Mikel Arteta admitted during his pre-match press conference that he had further issues to deal with as his players returned to training, with Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang two of those whose participation is yet to be confirmed, although the majority of news sources have been confident on the pair being ready in recent days.
Predicted Arsenal XI:
Ramsdale
Takehiro White Gabriel Tierney
Saka Partey Lokonga Smith Rowe
Lacazette Aubameyang
I’m not expecting either of Partey or Auba to miss the match, despite Arteta’s pessimistic comments, and don’t see why the manager would be looking to change the system that has got us firing in recent weeks. It wouldn’t be a major shock if he did revert to a back five however, keeping Nuno Tavares in the side whilst also bringing Tierney back in.
It wouldn’t be the first time that the Spaniard has opted to make that change ahead of taking on one of our toughest rivals, and KT could well take Lokonga’s spot in the team should the manager make that decision today.
Will Mikel be keen just to stick to our strengths today or do you expect his team to line up differently to combat Liverpool’s strengths?
Patrick
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