I must admit I am a bit surprised that Wenger has said that Wojciech Szczesny will return to the Arsenal Starting XI on Monday night. I thought that the little statement about Szczesny having a virus (before the QPR game) was Wenger’s way of letting us know Ospina would keep his place against United, but the Boss said last night about Wojciech: “He has a test today. If he gets through that test, he will play on Monday night.”
Also we were all aware that Gabriel would not be fit to play, and Wenger confirmed that and said that he hoped Monreal would be able to take his place. Wenger said: “Gabriel has a little hamstring injury and he will be out for two to three weeks. He has a scan today. That means he’s not available for the weekend and certainly not for West Ham United or Monaco, but after that he should be available again.”
“We will of course lose Gabriel in the squad and Nacho Monreal might come back. He will have a test today. Everybody else should be available – the same squad that played against Queens Park Rangers.”
Does that mean that he expects Monreal to play as centre-back again? And if so, will Koscielny or Mertesacker be dropped to the bench?