Arsenal play their final Europa League group stage match against FC Zurich at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening, knowing their fate is in their hands.
The Gunners sit top of Group A, two points clear of PSV Eindhoven, but need a win to be sure of top spot after losing 2-0 to the Dutch side last week. They will be big favourites to pick up the win against the group’s bottom side, who they defeated 2-1 way back on September 8.
Mikel Arteta’s side have won all eight of their home games in Europe and in the Premier League so far this season and come into the game full of confidence following their 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest on the weekend. Arteta wants to win, but will also have one eye on the trip to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
His selection in the last Europa League game against PSV gives a hint at the sort of line-up he will name this time around. In that game he rested key personnel and rotated in squad players, and something similar is likely this time around.
Some selections have been taken out of his hands. Matt Turner, who played the first four Europa League games, remains out with a groin problem, which means Aaron Ramsdale will keep his place after playing in goal against PSV last week.
Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka is unavailable after picking up his third yellow card in the Europa League in last week's defeat in the Netherlands. His one-game suspension gives an opportunity to another midfielder, with Albert Sambi Lokonga, Mohamed Elneny or Fabio Vieira the likely beneficiaries.
HAVE YOUR SAY! What team should Mikel Arteta go for to face FC Zurich? Comment below.
Elneny injured his hamstring in the win against Fulham on August 27 and has been absent ever since, but is now back in training alongside Oleksandr Zinchenko, who hasn’t played since the north London derby due to a calf problem on October 1. Of the two Elneny seems much more likely to feature against Zurich.
“They are in different stages [of recovery] obviously,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference. “Mo had a long-term injury but he has recovered in a good way and now he's been training with the team for a week or two. Alex is more recent and has just two one or two training sessions and Bukayo [Saka] has missed one or two and was fine today.”
Saka trained as normal on Wednesday after limping off just before the half-hour mark in the Gunners' thrashing of Forest, but is unlikely to be risked, given the Chelsea game on the horizon. He could well be rested alongside Gabriel Jesus, who is on a seven-game goal drought and could be replaced by Eddie Nketiah.
Reiss Nelson is a likely starter after his impact off the bench against Forest, while it could be William Saliba’s time for a rest after Gabriel Magalhaes was rotated out of the side against PSV last week.
Predicted Arsenal XI vs FC Zurich (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Lokonga, Odegaard; Martinelli, Nelson, Nketiah.
