Strongest Arsenal Lineup To Face Hull City: Ramsey & Ox To Start, Ozil On The Bench

Arsenal travel to the KC stadium this weekend in the Premier league in a game that promises to be the ideal dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final later in the season. While the Gunners edged out Wigan on Penalties and followed it up with a 3-1 win over West Ham in midweek, Steve Bruce’s men beat Nigel Clough’s spirited Sheffield United side by 5-3 to book a place in the final against Wenger’s men.

Arsenal are currently in fourth a point above Everton after the latter was beaten at home by Crystal Palace by a 3-2 margin. The Gunners can ill afford to drop points should Everton capitalize in the fight to the finish for fourth place. So what will be Wenger’s strongest possible lineup against the Tigers? We here at Soccersouls have the answer.

Goalkeeping:

Wojciech Szczesny’s goalkeeping has left a lot to be desired the past few weeks. The Pole had been in great form in the first half of the season but his form has inexplicably gone down the barrel leaving a lot of questions to be answered. West Ham opened the scoring at the Emirates in midweek which was nothing more than a soft goal to concede. Szczesny however will be in for a test this weekend as Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long will lead the line for the home side.

Defenders:

Bacary Sagna should start in the right back slot while for the left back spot it should be Thomas Vermaelen to continue as Wenger has already ruled out Kieran Gibbs for the clash while Nacho Monreal will undergo a late fitness test to make the starting eleven. The centre back partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny will continue to feature in the heart of the backline.

Midfield:

With Mathieu Flamini returning from suspension, Arsene Wenger has a selection headache ahead of the Hull clash. While Aaron Ramsey is a definite starter in the midfield, selecting one between Arteta, Flamini and Kallstrom is a tough ask.

Kim Kallstrom made his first Premier League start against West Ham but the Swede should be on the bench for this leaving the fight between Flamini and Arteta. Elsewhere the big news is Mesut Ozil’s recovery from his hamstring injury. The German last played at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and will travel with the squad to Hull. Tomas Rosicky started against West Ham but Wenger is likely to give Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain another start on the right while Podolski after his impressive display in the midweek should keep his place on the left.

Santi Cazorla will start in the number ten slot, as the Gunners will lineup with a strong bench which includes the likes of Ozil, Rosicky, Kallstrom and either of Flamini or Arteta.

Strike force:

Olivier Giroud scored against West Ham in midweek and should lead the line for the Gunners. Arsenal will however find it hard to break down a resilient Hull side who defend with a lot of spirit and rarely leak goals at home. Steve Bruce’s men will look to isolate Giroud up front with their spare man in a 3-5-2 setup in an attempt to squeeze Arsenal’s midfield and overload the flanks with gusto. Giroud however will have to bring all his experience and his hold up abilities into the game to get his team mates more involved in the final third.