The last month has been horrendous for all Premier League teams that have had European commitments, and fatigue and injuries have been affecting some clubs badly, plus factoring the need for rotation to try and keep fresh legs for the big games.
Although much has been made of Arsenal having a smaller quad than most, Arteta seems to have negotiated our Europa Group fixtures admirably. We have qualified as Group-Toppers, and the boss seems very pleased that we have come through without too many players on the treatment table. Arteta told Arsenal.com: “We have managed the load of the players in the last four weeks because of the amount of games that we have played. To get it perfect is very difficult, to get the balance, to get the right performances and win matches and rest some players and keep them fresh is always challenging, we have tried to do our best.
“Today we had bad news with Tomiyasu, but I think for the rest it has worked pretty well.”
The consequence of that is that most of our first-teamers avoided playing 90 minutes on Thursday, so Arteta could field a very strong side tomorrow. We have got 90 minutes into Elneny, which has given Partey a rest, and Xhaka was suspended as well.
Oleks Zinchenko was on the bench so should be able to play a part tomorrow, especially with Tomiyasu being checked for injury again.
So, I am going to predict Arteta’s starting line-up with confidence that I won’t be far wrong…
Ramsdale
White..Gabriel..Saliba..Zinchenko
Partey..Xhaka
Saka..Odegaard..Martinelli
Jesus
Personally, I think that team will be more than capable of giving Chelsea a very tough game indeed, and I would go into the game with confidence.
What do you think?
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