Arsenal kick off their Premier League campaign this weekend with a home game against Nottingham Forest and all eyes will be on summer signings Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz.
With Granit Xhaka gone and Elneny out injured, Declan Rice will obviously start alongside Thomas Partey. Also, the club has paid more than 100 million pounds to bring him in from West Ham United so Arteta cannot afford to keep him on the bench.
Havertz will also be in the starting line up because Gabriel Jesus is out injured but there are a few question marks over Jurrien Timber because both Gabriel and William Saliba are fully fit.
Arsenal have paid around €40 million to Ajax for the central defender but last season, the pairing of Saliba and Gabriel did a really great job so Mikel Arteta will have to be very careful before breaking this in-sync pairing.
During the course of the season, Jurrien Timber will be settling into a central defensive role but he made his debut for Arsenal as a left-back and we think on Saturday, he will play in the same role.
Zinchenko is out injured due to a muscle problem which is why Timber played as the left full-back against Manchester City in the Community Shield and because Zinchenko is expected to miss the Forest game as well, Jurrien Timber will remain out on the left.
Timber played 76 minutes on Sunday and against the best team in Europe, he showed immense confidence. He had a passing accuracy of 92% plus he also made two clearances along with four recoveries.
Throughout his professional career, the former Ajax man has played more than 230 games but he’s played as a left-back only nine times, including last Sunday’s Community Shield final. However, despite playing a less familiar role, the 22-year-old did fairly well which is why we think Mikel Arteta will want to keep his back four intact for the first Premier League game of the season.
Unless Zinchenko makes a full recovery, Jurrien Timber will play as the left-back with Ben White operating on the right and this will allow the pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel to remain in the starting line up.
Gabriel Magalhaes looks the weaker of the centre-back pair so Timber is expected to replace him as the season rolls along but it’s just the first game of a new season so Mikel Arteta will not want to make any quick and rash decisions.
Last season, Arsenal missed out on the EPL title by just five points so this time around, they will have to be on their toes from the very first matchday.
