After three defeats in a row, Arsenal will be under serious pressure when they take on their fiercest rival Tottenham at the White Hart Lane stadium on Saturday. The defeat versus Barcelona was expected, the result against United was surprising but what happened on Wednesday night at the Emirates stadium was just shocking. Losing to a relegation threatened team in that manner doesn’t signal the arrival of a new champion. Spurs on the other hand come into this match on the back of a shock 1-nil defeat to West Ham United.
Goalkeeper: David Ospina
Unfortunately for the Gunners, Cech suffered a minor calf injury during the closing stages of the match against Swansea and is expected to miss out on Saturday. Therefore Wenger is forced to start the much maligned Columbian on Saturday. Hope he has a good day at the office.
Defenders: Nacho Monreal, Per Mertesacker, Paulista and Hector Bellerin
Arsenal were in for some more bad news when it was revealed that Laurent Koscielny will be missing from action for sometime due to a training ground injury, hence the the partnership of Mertesacker and Paulista will continue in the middle of the defence. The Brazilian had a game to forget on Wednesday and will be looking to bounce back against the North London rivals. Bellerin and Monreal will continue as the two full backs, both of them did okay against Swansea but will need to be more solid against a much tougher opponent.
Midfielders: Aaron Ramsey, Coquelin, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell.
Coquelin was one of the better players on Wednesday and should keep his place alongside his central defensive partner Ramsey on Saturday. One player who seems to be struggling a lot recently is Sanchez, since his return from injury, he has hardly looked like his old explosive self. Many people will be wanting to see him on the bench for this one but knowing Wenger he will want to start with his strongest eleven and one which includes Sanchez.
On the other side Campbell will keep his place in the starting XI after one his best performances in an Arsenal shirt versus Swansea. He was the star of the night and was jeered off the ground when Wenger for reasons unknown decided to substitute him while chasing the game against the Welsh side.
Mesut Ozil will be deployed in the number 10 role just behind the striker, where he will be expected to spark his team back into life after a disappointing few weeks.
Striker: Giroud
Though I would be tempted to start with Welback for this one, I think Wenger is not someone who hides his players from action when they are out of form. Hence Giroud might be given that one last chance to prove his goal scoring credentials against Spurs.