Alexis Sanchez leads the Gunners’ front-line as Arsenal kick-start their Champions League campaign at a tough away night in Paris.
Arsene Wenger has chosen an intriguing starting lineup for the first match of their UEFA Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain with no natural striker up-front. Olivier Giroud and Lucas Perez are on the bench while Wenger has entrusted Alexis Sanchez with the responsibility of leading the front-line in Paris.
David Ospina gets a start while new signing Shkodran Mustafi makes his Champions League debut in Arsenal colours. Wenger has gone for youth on either wings with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alex Iwobi on either side of Mesut Ozil in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Iwobi, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis. #UCL
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 13, 2016
In fact, it’s team news time right now…#PSGvAFC pic.twitter.com/dX2tGAu6th
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) September 13, 2016
Arsenal’s twitter handle did mention that Theo Walcott has missed out due to an injury while Wenger has named Granit Xhaka and Elneny on the bench for today’s match.
PSG XI vs. Arsenal: Aréola; Aurier, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Maxwell; Verratti, Krychowiak, Rabiot, Di Maria, Matuidi; Cavani.
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) September 13, 2016
Meanwhile, Unai Emery has chosen a rather expected starting lineup with the most noticeable player to have missed out on the match being Hatem Ben-Arfa, who was already announced to have not made the cut into the Matchday squad for the fixture.
It would be interesting to see how Areola does in goal as it promises to be a mouth-watering battle with an array of stars on display in Paris.
