Thursday, March 28, 2024

Alexis Out, Wilshere In: Wenger’s Likely XI To Play BATE Borisov

Despite making a rocky start to the campaign, Arsenal will be hoping to brush away the early season cobwebs by finishing September unbeaten in six games.

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Having progressed in the League Cup and sitting comfortably in top spot of their Europa League group, it seems Wenger’s squad rotation is going to plan so far.

With Calum Chambers the only casualty of Arsenal’s ‘B team’ options, it provides another chance for some of the bigger names in the squad to get a rest ahead of the weekend.

Alex Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez, Laurent Koscielny and Petr Cech are all expected to be left off of the plane that will travel to Belarus ahead of Thursday night’s game.

An away trip to BATE Borisov hardly sounds glamorous but the likes of Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott will be happy to be picking up some more vital game time.

Here’s how Wenger’s starting XI is likely to look:

Goalkeeper: David Ospina

Ospina has picked up two appearances so far this season but with Cech performing to his best at the moment it’s hard to see an immediate change in the goalkeeping situation.

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The best that Ospina can hope for is to continue to put in trustworthy performances that will pose a strong argument for him being our future No. 1 for many years to come.

Matt Macey is likely to feature on the bench again as he continues to pick up valuable first-team experience should he be needed to step in during our League Cup or Europa progression.

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