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Arteta to start as Wenger gets set to make 4 changes v Dinamo Zagreb

By on September 16, 2015

Mikel Arteta

According to the Guardian newspaper, Mikel Arteta will start in midfield as Arsene Wenger gets set to make four changes to his starting eleven for tonight’s game against Dinamo Zagreb.

We kick off our Champions League campaign with a tricky test away to the Croatian champions – who haven’t been beaten for 11 months – but it appears the boss is ready to make some changes to his team.

The Guardian believe that Wenger will make four changes to the side that comfortably beat Stoke City 2-0 on Saturday afternoon with Mikel Arteta perhaps the most surprising player to be drafted in.

The skipper has barely played competitive football in 6 months due to injury and he’s lost his first team place to Francis Coquelin during that time. However, he sat alongside the boss at his press conference yesterday and it appears he’s now going to be given a rare start in midfield.

Hector Bellerin has been left back in North London to rest so Mathieu Debuchy is almost certain to start at right-back while the paper feels that The Ox will come in for Aaron Ramsey – who has also not made the trip and has been rested ahead of Saturday’s game against Chelsea.

The final change will see Olivier Giroud recalled to the starting eleven in place of Theo Walcott up front after the Frenchman came off the bench to score at the weekend.

This is the eleven the newspaper has predicted:

Cech, Debuchy, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.

Of the four changes suggested by the Guardian, the only one I would question is Arteta as his legs have gone and I’m not convinced he has what it takes to compete in elite European games anymore, but hopefully I’m proved wrong tonight.

We’ll have to wait and see how accurate the Guardian’s predicted line-up is but Arsene has confirmed he’ll rotate his team for the game. Let’s hope it doesn’t backfire as the last thing we need is to get off to a bad start in Europe.

3 Comments

  1. Sean Williams

    September 16, 2015 at 11:07 am

    This show that Wenger’s reluctance to buy a DM to COMPLEMENT Coquelin was the most stupid decicion of the lot. With Kondogbia, Carvalho, Imbula, Khedirs, Schneiderlin and others all available, he cannot say that he could not find good players. Wenger is a brilliant coach, second to none, but in other ways he is a stupid idiot.

  2. James

    September 16, 2015 at 11:19 am

    If this is true I’m not happy! Hector is definitely our best RB so should be starting.. Coq should alos start as he’s been fantastic and like you have said Arteta has lost his legs! Theo would also get the nod if it was upto me as Giroud is a complete waste of time!

  3. Joseph Barasa

    September 16, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    As Arsenal fans,we would like to see our team firing at all cylinders.I mean we want our team to win.This is the time you can all see why i used to say that we needed a defensive midfielder.Wenger is now gumbling because he has got no enough players.I cant think Arteta can fit Francis Coq shoes.If Jack was fit,he could have been used instead of Arteta.In the position of striker i can forgive him because we needed a world class and there was non available in the market.Defensive midfielder were available only wenger refused to buy.All the other changes no problem apart from Arteta.He can help us in the Community Shield but not the Champion League.He has weak legs because of enjeries and also his form is quationable.All in all the opposition we are playing tonight is not weak.They have gone unbeaten in their domestic league.I urge Wenger to handle this match with care because its a must win to continue boosting our confidance.

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