Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to predict what team Unai Emery will put out and in the context of tonight’s game against Eintracht Frankfurt, it is almost impossible but that does not mean we will not give it a go.
I reckon he will stick with Bernd Leno in goal and not be tempted to go with Emiliano MartÃnez, that will most likely happen in the Carabao Cup v Nottingham Forest next week.
It is an almost certainty that Sead Kilasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will play as the wing-backs, who else is there?
The centre of defence is a little tricky but I see a recall for Calum Chambers as a replacement for Sokratis and I am not sure Emery will risk Rob Holding from the start and so it is a toss-up between David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi to partner Chambers and I am going with Mustafi. The reason is simple, Emery will have an eye on Aston Villa at the weekend and would rather play Luiz in that game than this one against Frankfurt.
Midfield, as usual, is tricky but I have a feeling it will be Granit Xhaka, Joe Willock and Lucas Torriera, I cannot really give you a reason in-depth, it is just a feeling I have. I can give some sort of reasoning and it would be valid but in the end, it really is guesswork because Emery could easily go with Matteo Guendouzi, Dani Ceballos and Emile Smith Rowe.
Upfront I am fairly certain he will start with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and probably Gabriel Martinelli but Reiss Nelson could easily come in as well.
So, this is the team I reckon Emery will go with or at the very least, close to it.
Leno
Kolasinac
Maitland-Niles
Chambers
Mustafi
Willock
Xhaka
Torreira
Martinelli
Aubameyang
Pepe