Arsene Wenger and his team of Gunners have gotten off to a good season start by demolishing Manchester City on a clean sheet and clinching the Community Shield to barely scraping through in the opening game of the Premier League against Crystal Palace, with main man, Aaron Ramsey scoring a last gasp winner to snatch up those precious 3 points.
It’s definitely pleasing for the fans to see their team perform initially for what it’s worth. And now they move on to the bigger platform and Europe’s prime showdown, the Champions League where they’re scheduled for yet another yearly qualification match against Turkish club, Besiktas.
On paper, the London club is tipped to progress through but with most of the top end players left with injuries till the season sets in, fatigue problems will start to show up with the rest of the squad, especially with less of a gap between the upcoming CL qualifier and the follow up EPL game against Everton. Wenger will have to look at his options and keep his priorities in order if he wants the team to push forth on all levels.
Predictions for the lineup
GK & Defenders
Besides a few minor errors, Szczesny has kept his cool and played his part for most of the match against the Eagles. He’s surely a relieving squad member for the back 4, especially Debuchy and Chambers who aren’t on par with level of competition they’re playing on, but seem to be adjusting as the games pass by. His understudy David Ospina is still a few weeks away from his debut, so meanwhile check out his jersey’s at just-keepers.com
Koscielny has been in excellent form both on the defensive and attacking front, being able to push forward and track back with the changing scenario.
Gibbs is currently out of contention for the left back position, seeing as he picked up a hamstring injury. Hopefully his services will be back in order when they return from Turkey. So essentially, the responsibility lands on Monreal, who is decent enough to cover the left flank and keep it under control.
Attackers
Ramsey and Arteta are main contenders for the midfield section and Wenger will not take chances against an inferior club and rest the star performers of the show. Ramsey can cut through and make the give and go passes between the attacking front while Arteta oversees the entirety of the midfield, keeping his incredible vision to maximum, giving the long ball through the flanks to short passing and gaining on the momentum.
Sanchez and Cazorla should be rested for the Premier League and rightfully so, seeing as their presence is immense to the team and with EPL being on top of the to-do list, keeping them on the bench and giving their wing positions to Chamberlain and Campbell will boost the pace of the flanks tenfold. These two young guns are able to brush past defenders and drift into the box, offloading some of pressure of lone striker Oliver Giroud, who will be likely to feature in the starting XI.
The Possible Starting XI
