Arsene Wenger has not made too many changes to the in form Arsenal team for this Champions League match against the Bulgarian club Ludogorets, despite most people thinking it should be an easy win and with a heavy fixture schedule for the Gunners to cope with in the coming weeks.
The changes he has made also seem to be intended to bring in players who have a point to prove as well, in terms of getting more regular game time, so Arsene Wenger will be hoping that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs and David Ospina show him tonight why they should be in the team more often.
Apart from those three and the expected return of Francis Coquelin, however, the boss has stuck with the players that have been doing us proud of late, so while Iwobi, Monreal and Cech get a rest, or miss out depending on how you look at it, the likes of Ozil, Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Cazorla all start.
Ospina
Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi, Gibbs
Coquelin, Cazorla
Walcott, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain
Alexis Sanchez
Subs: Cech, Gabriel, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Iwobi, Lucas Perez.
I thought that a few of the big name and key players might get a rest today and the big surprise, for me at least, is that Xhaka is not starting as he will not be available at the weekend because of that debatable sending off. Is Wenger punishing him a bit? As long as Arsenal win, do we care?
Bob.