Mikel Arteta should make at least four changes for the Portsmouth game.
Mikel Arteta will be wanting to get back to winning ways tomorrow evening and will be desperate for Arsenal to take a big step towards winning the FA Cup.
That is why I am convinced he will not make wholesale changes for the sake of it.
However, he was let down by certain players in the Olympiacos games and I reckon that he will “punish” those that were clearly lacking in effort and desire.
It would not surprise me to see him drop David Luiz and replace him with Pablo Mari, a decision that would be absolutely justified in my opinion.
Mesut Ozil should be dropped and Arteta may have clicked on now that he cannot keep on trusting him.
I also expect that Alexandre Lacazette will be benched, he is another one that does not deserve a first-team spot any more.
Nicolas Pepe could also be left out of the starting line up if Arteta is going to base his team selection on form.
Arteta should also drop Hector Bellerin and Granit Xhaka but I have very little confidence in him doing that, which could end up being very costly.
These are the four players then that I think Arteta may well drop.
David Luiz
Mesut Ozil
Alexandre Lacazette
Nicolas Pepe
Arteta made some howlers against Olympiacos and he will be judged more harshly if he gets it wrong against Portsmouth and that starts with his team selection.
