Whilst the immediate reaction to the Arsenal lineup might be that Arteta has just thrown 11 players who he thinks could do a good job today, I feel there’s a lot more to it than that.

Our rotation in the Europa League this season has been calculated in that the first teamers who started the last game (Martinelli, Xhaka, Gabriel) have been rotated and those who didn’t (Saka, White, Saliba, etc.) have been included to keep match sharpness and ensure that we get the victory in what’s a tougher game than many might assume.

In addition to this, Arteta is using these games as a competitive environment to test out a few things that we might need to call upon in future. Starting Vieira and Ødegaard further shows his ambitions of playing with two 8’s who can dominate a low-block and slot into the front 5. This also provides assurances that if Xhaka, who is currently one of our most important players, gets injured, we have able deputies who can slot into his role immediately. Further, Saliba as a LCB gives him experience with that role as an option if anything happens to Gabriel. Whilst Tomiyasu can of course play there, my preference would be Saliba - White CB’s with the Japanese in his strongest RB position.

Finally, the omission of Gabriel Jesus from travelling completely, despite him being fit is a smart one. We shouldn’t be needing him today and given the conditions it would be naive to throw in arguably our best player in a situation with heightened injury risk.

Overall, I think the line-up is strong enough where we are taking this game with the seriousness it demands, particularly considering the new 2nd place R32 rule. As well as, rotating where appropriate and trying out things that we might need to recall upon in future. I think it will be a scrappy game today but given the quality Arsenal have on the pitch we will end up 2-0 victors, needing just one more win to clinch first place in the group.

#Arsenal #PixstoryArsenal