Arsenal have the perfect chance to bounce back from Premier League defeat as they travel to Serie A champions Inter on Wednesday. Without a win in three Premier League matches, and with a trip to Chelsea coming up on Sunday, it is a crucial game......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Although the extended group phase format allows for more slip-ups, a win here for Arsenal would put them in a strong position to automatically progress to the last-16 in the new year. With two wins and a draw already, things have gone well so far.
Inter promise to be the biggest challenge yet, though, and they sit second in Italy so far, just a point behind Antonio Conte’s impressive Napoli. For Arteta, it will be a test of how he balances his creaking squad yet again.
Declan Rice, a mainstay for the Gunners, is ruled out after picking up an injury, whilst Riccardo Calafiori remains out. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are also sidelined, but have been for much of the campaign to date.
Fortunately for Arsenal, club captain Martin Odegaard is back. For the first time in two months, he is likely to be in the matchday squad at least after travelling with his teammates to San Siro.
“Martin it’s great to have him back,” Arteta said before the game. “He trained with us first time today. He’s a bit earlier than expected. But it’s great to have him here and we will decide if we use him tomorrow.”
Rice, however, didn’t train prior to flying out, and was confirmed as being not only out for Wednesday but also a doubt for Chelsea. “Declan unfortunately picked an injury against Newcastle,” explained his manager. “He was able to finish and he wasn’t feeling good the last few days. We’ll have to assess him on Thursday and see if he’s ready for Chelsea.”
The rest of the squad looks in good shape for Arsenal. Ben White, only able to make it as a substitute at Newcastle, trained ahead of the game and can be joined by a large cohort.
Due to UEFA rules, Arsenal can include all of their initial 25-man squad as submitted after the summer transfer window in their matchday list, as well academy trained players added to the ‘B’ list ahead of time. Given the small number that Arteta is working with, it may well see players like Tommy Setford or some Hale End Graduates make it onto the bench.
Here, football.london brings you the expected Arsenal squad for the trip to Inter.
Goalkeepers: David Raya, Neto, Tommy Setford.
Defenders: Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior.
Midfielders: Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Jorginho, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Mikel Merino.
Attackers: Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling.