Arsenal will return to the UEFA Champions League after seven seasons and in their first group game they welcome PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates Stadium this week.
The Gunners are unbeaten in the English Premier League and even though PSV are in good form themselves, Arsenal are very much the favourites to win on Wednesday night.
Going into this tie, Arsenal are unbeaten in 6 home games but the last time these two sides met, the North London side did not have a positive result. These two met in last season’s Europa League group stage where Arsenal secured a 1-0 win at home before losing 2-0 in the Netherlands. Like last season, Arsenal are in great form this time as well and given the firepower they have, Mikel Arteta’s team will be looking at an easy win.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny and Jurrien Timber are all ruled out for the home side and while Partey and Elneny should be back in a few weeks, Timber could miss the rest of the season.
The summer signing has not even been named in the Champions League squad for the first half of the season.
Apart from these three players, there are question marks over the fitness of Gabriel Martinelli as well after he picked up a hamstring issue during the 1-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
The Arsenal manager said after the Everton game: ‘He felt, I think, something in the action in the run for the goal. He’s not normally a player to have muscular issues, but he had to come off. Let’s see.’
Leandro Trossard replaced Martinelli on Sunday in the 24th minute and he will get a start if the Brazilian cannot recover in time.
Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz both sat on the bench on Sunday as Mikel Arteta put his faith in Eddie Nketiah but against PSV, Jesus and Havertz should both come back into the starting XI. Gabriel Jesus is going to lead the line while Havertz is expected to replace Vieira in midfield.
David Raya was in front of goal in the 1-0 win but for the Champions League tie, we expect Ramsdale to come back into the side, pushing the summer signing back to the bench.
Arsenal predicted line up vs PSV Eindhoven:
Predicted Starting XI(4-3-3): Ramsdale; Ben White, Gabriel, William Saliba, Zinchenko; Declan Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Trossard, Jesus, Bukayo Saka.
