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Mertesacker Out: My Arsenal Starting XI To Face Bayern Munich

By on October 19, 2015

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Arsenal entertain Bayern Munich in a crucial Champions League clash at the Emirates tomorrow night. This is the starting eleven I think Arsene Wenger should select:

Goalkeeper: Cech

Thankfully the temptation to start Ospina has been taken away from Arsene as the Colombian has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, so Cech is certain to start. Phew….

Defence: Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal

Gabriel is back in contention after missing the Watford win with a mysterious problem. The likelihood is Wenger will stick with the same back four that kept  clean sheet last time out but I’d like to see Gabriel start ahead of Mertesacker.

The German giants lack of pace is a real concern and while his experience could be valuable, I’d worry about him up against the Bayern attack.

Otherwise, the back four picks itself these days with Bellerin and Monreal the first choice full-backs, while Koscielny should obviously start.

Midfield: Coquelin, Cazorla

There’s little argument that these two are now firmly established as our starting pair in the middle of the park. I’m still not a big fan of Ramsey out on the right but he can’t split the Cazorla-Coquelin partnership just yet.

Attacker: Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez

So Rambo is set to once again start out wide and while I don’t think we get the best of him out there, it’s the only way to shoe-horn him in to the side at the minute.

Arsene has ruled out resting Ozil and Sanchez so they are expected to retain their places in attack. I think we know the Premier League is the priority this year but we need our best players on the field if we’re to have any chance of beating Bayern.

Striker: Walcott

Theo didn’t have a great game against Watford and Giroud staked his claim after coming off the bench to score, but I’d still go with pace over physicality tomorrow night.

We look far more dangerous with Walcott running in behind and depending on Arsene sets the team up, Theo’s pace could be crucial if the boss decides to try and hit Bayern on the counter-attack.

So this is how I’d line-up:

Agree? Who would you start?