Arsenal face Sheffield United in Sunday’s late kick off in the Premier League. The Gunners will be looking to bounce back from back to back disappointing performances.
Arteta will want to make a number of changes to his team, given how poorly they performed against Liverpool and Slavia Prague. And with the importance of next Thursday in mind, Arteta needs to find the balance of generating some momentum and resting some players.Â
Have a look how I think we should line up for the game below. Disagree? Create your Arsenal XI at the bottom of this article.
Goalkeeper: Mat Ryan
Leno is in a rough patch and with a huge game coming up on Thursday, this could be a chance to give loanee Ryan another chance between the sticks. He was impressive in his only outing so far for the Gunners, against Aston Villa.Â
Defenders: Calum Chambers, Gabriel Magalhaes, Pablo Mari, Bukayo Saka
Arsenal’s defence has been really poor of late, and for me, Arteta needs to find some new solutions. This back four would see Saka come in on the left, the most natural replacement for Tierney. Whilst at the heart of the defence, Arsenal need to try something else. Our two best, fit defenders are both left-sided, but Arteta needs to see if it can work ahead of Thursday.
Midfielders: Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pepe, Willian, Gabriel Martinelli
It’s hard to know if Partey is underperforming because of too many minutes or not enough. The Ghanain needs to find his best form and Arteta has to get that out of him. Ahead of Xhaka and Thomas, Pepe and Martinelli need to be given starts on the wings. With Smith Rowe and Odegaard injured, Willian could slot into the number 10 role. Â
Forwards: Alexandre Lacazette
Aubameyang is out with ‘flu’ so expect Lacazette to lead the line again tonight. I would quite like to see Folarin Balogun get a start, with the news that he is set to sign a new contract – but that’s probably a little too much to ask. Â
How would you line up? Create your XI below and share it on social media!