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[Image] No Ozil or Lacazette, 2 changes – My Arsenal line-up vs Leicester

By on July 6, 2020

Mikel Arteta Arsenal

Arsenal take on Leicester City at the Emirates on Tuesday night. Here’s the line-up I’d like Mikel Arteta to select…

Emi Martinez has performed very well since replacing the injured Bernd Leno so obviously he’ll continue in goal while I expect we’ll see Arteta sticking with the 3-4-3 formation that’s worked well in recent weeks.

Fair play to Shkodran Mustafi. He seems to have turned things around and is actually playing very well right now so he deserves to keep his place. David Luiz looks for more comfortable in the middle of a back three so he keeps his place tomorrow, too.

I’m not a huge fan of Sead Kolasinac playing in a back three but we don’t really have any viable alternatives with Pablo Mari injured. Rob Holding could play there I suppose but he’s looked dodgy when he’s come on in recent weeks.

Kieran Tierney is improving all the time and I think he’ll be a big player for Arsenal over the coming years so I’d definitely keep him in the side against Leicester but I would make a change on the opposite flank.

Cedric Soares looked [understandably] rusty during his full debut against Wolves on Saturday so I’d recall Hector Bellerin. No doubt Soares will improve as he gets minutes under his belt but I’d go with Bellerin for this must-win game.

No Guendouzi again

Matteo Guendouzi is still being frozen out by Arteta so we won’t see him tomorrow. Lucas Torreira is back in contention and he looked sharp off the bench at the weekend after recovering from an ankle injury.

However, he still lacks match fitness and Dani Ceballos has formed a good understanding with Granit Xhaka in recent games so I would stick with them against Leicester and have Torreira on the bench.

bukayo saka arsenal

Mesut Ozil isn’t expected to feature tomorrow. He’s not played for Arsenal since the restart and it looks like he’s using the old ‘sore back’ story after being axed by Arteta so I wouldn’t expect to see him against Leicester.

Laca misses out

Alexandre Lacazette scored a wonderful goal off the bench against Wolves but I would still like to see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang playing down the middle. I’ve been saying it for months, but Auba is Arsenal’s best player and best goalscorer so he should be played up front in his best position.

It would also make room for Bukayo Saka to start in the left side of attack. He didn’t look comfortable on the right against Wolves and is far more of a threat from the left so let’s play our best players in their proper positions.

Nicolas Pepe missed the Wolves game to attend the birth of his baby but he should be available against Leicester. He certainly needs to work on his consistency but there is no denying his quality so I’d start Pepe tomorrow night.

Reiss Nelson would be an option from the bench along with Lacazette and Joe Willock but obviously Gabriel Martinelli isn’t available as he’s out for the season with a knee injury.

Here is how I hope Arsenal line-up:

football formations

One Comment

  1. Stephan Larose

    July 6, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    Rob Holding looked dodgy? He was man of the match in his last game!