Jakub Kiwior starts for Arsenal in the absence of William Saliba for their Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb tonight.
The French defender missed Saturday’s Premier League draw against Aston Villa due to a hamstring injury sustained in the north London derby.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ARSENAL VS DINAMO ZAGREB LIVE!
Saliba was absent from training on Tuesday afternoon and manager Mikel Arteta later confirmed that he will not face Dinamo.
“He is evolving well, the last few days he was feeling much better already, but this game comes a little bit too early for him,” Arteta said.
Therefore, Kiwior is selected to partner Gabriel Magalhaes at the heart of Arsenal’s defence with Jurrien Timber switching to right-back as Thomas Partey drops to the bench.
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus remain long-term absentees, while Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are both still out with knee injuries.
Arsenal did, at least, welcome Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori back to training on Tuesday afternoon but the are among the substitutes.
Calafiori missed the last three games due to injury and Nwaneri has been out since earlier this month with a muscle issue.
“It’s very positive news, we’ve missed them for a few weeks and they returned today for training so they will be available for the game,” said Arteta.
The Gunners are in a commanding position in the Champions League and Arteta has rotated slightly with Oleksandr Zinchenko starting at left-back, Jorginho coming into the midfield and Raheem Sterling getting the nod over Leandro Trossard.
Confirmed team news
Arsenal XI: Raya, Timber, Gabriel, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard, Sterling, Martinelli, Havertz
Subs: Neto, Setford, Tierney, Calafiori, Kacurri, Partey, Merino, Nwaneri, Trossard, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia
