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Elneny & Coquelin Start: The Arsenal XI That Should Face Burnley

By on January 28, 2016

alex-oxlade-chamberlain arsenal

Arsenal will try to ease in to the fifth round of the FA Cup when we entertain Burnley at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon….this is the team I’d like to see Arsene Wenger go with.

Goalkeeper: Ospina

It’s not often I want to see Petr Cech left out, but this is one of those rare occasions as this is a good opportunity to rest our No.1.

Defence: Debuchy, Chambers, Gabriel, Gibbs

Debuchy is in talks about a move away from the club but while he’s still on the payroll, he’s available for selection and Bellerin needs a breather. As long as his head is right, Debuchy should start this weekend while Gibbsy should also get a run-out at left-back.

Mertesacker is suspended after his dismissal against Chelsea so Gabriel is expected to deputise in defence while Chambers should come in for Koscielny.

Midfield: Coquelin, Elneny

The boss confirmed today that Coquelin is available for selection after getting a full two weeks training under his belt so this is a great opportunity to reintroduce him to the first team.

Elneny is yet to feature since joining the club at the start of the month so I think it’s about time we gave him his debut with Ramsey and Flamini given a rest.

Attack: The Ox, Rosicky, Iwobi

Sanchez made his comeback off the bench against Chelsea last weekend but with a huge league game against Southampton coming up on Tuesday,  we should protect the Chilean ace and give him another run-out in the second half to build his match fitness.

I’d give Alex Iwobi a start as he’s impressed off the bench recently while I think we’d all love to see Oxlade-Chamberlain put in an impressive display. He’s had a disappointing season so far so let’s hope he can get some confidence back with a good performance this weekend.

Ozil can get a breather and this could open the door for Rosicky to make his first appearance of the season after he was declared available for selection after recovering from a knee injury.

Striker: Walcott

Giroud only played for 22 minutes last Sunday so he’s more likely to start against Burnley but I’d like to see Theo start up front. He was impressing through the middle earlier in the season before getting injured and he’s just not looked the same out wide since his return. Stick Theo up front and hopefully he can get a morale-boosting goal to his name and save Giroud for the Southampton game.

This would be my line-up:

It’s going to be interesting to see what Arsene decides to do. He played a stronger than expected line-up against Sunderland in the last round but with a big league game only three days later, I don’t think the boss will have any option but to rest his key men on Saturday.

What do you think? What team would you go with?

3 Comments

  1. jegs

    January 28, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    Too disjointed. Need some of the usual starting XI in the forwards.
    Eg: Ramsey for Coq/El Neny
    Giroud for Walcott (since he was rested most of last game).

  2. dogbreath

    January 29, 2016 at 3:17 am

    i agree that some of our key players could do with a rest but it doesn’t all have to be in this one game. we are the defending fa cup champions and making 10 changes to our last starting line-up is far too cavalier and grossly underestimates burnley. they are flying high in the championship and you can bet your life they’ll be right up for this game.

    from your suggestion, i’d take out debuchy (heart’s no longer with arsenal) for chambers and bring kozzer back in. in the middle, i’d Start rambo (b2b) and elney (holding), with Coq coming in for a 20/30 minute run-out.

    attackers-wise, i agree with wally up front and the ox on the right. sanchez needs more game time after over 2 months out and should start on the left. If he gets tired, pull him off, drop wally in there and bring on ollie. finally, i’d love to see iwobi get a start in CAM and then come off for mozart to get a 20/30 minute run-out.

  3. Babalola oladimeji

    January 29, 2016 at 11:40 am

    I think that’s the best thing wenger should do

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