Arsenal travel to take on Sevilla, but all eyes will be on Mikel Arteta’s team selection, his goalkeeping situation and starting striker.
Arsenal will treat the trip to Seville as a must-win encounter, with Mikel Arteta aiming to get his selection right for this clash. There are a few things the Spaniard could ponder changing with the squad, including giving Kai Havertz a run out in the central role.
Arteta conducted his pre-match press conference after landing in Spain. There were some questions on Havertz and his European pedigree, while he also answered queries about his goalkeeping situation after David Raya’s displays at the weekend.
Havertz has been impressing off the bench in the last two games, giving Arsenal a different perspective from the No.9 role. Whether Arteta found those performances enough to hand him the keys to the starting striker role remains the question.
When asked about Havertz, Arteta said, “That’s certainly one of the reasons, plus quality and the number of things he has already done in his career at his age, and then to improve the starting XI as well because he has tremendous quality, and that is going to help us to be better.”
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Arteta also touched upon the goalkeeping situation with plenty more questions asked about Raya following his somewhat shaky performance at Stamford Bridge. The manager was then quizzed about people’s expectations of him to keep changing his goalkeeper, to which Arteta gave a swift reply.
Arterta said, “I don’t know, it depends on where that is coming from. Is it someone from football when errors are part of football and mistakes happen from defenders, for strikers and for goalkeepers? For sure, no.”
Furthermore, Arteta was asked whether Raya was feeling the pressure of having the spotlight on him and about being at a big club like Arsenal. Arteta continued, “I haven’t seen that at all. There is a pressure of playing for big clubs where you have to win and you have to be at your best, and you have someone next to you that is pushing you every single day.”
On his selections, Arteta will likely continue with Raya in goal, with the same back four that started at Stamford Bridge. Takehiro Tomiyasu also has a chance to start at left back following a few impressive displays. But for now, he might remain on the bench as a high-quality impact player.
Arteta might give Thomas Partey an extended period on the sidelines, which could see Jorginho continue in his holding midfield role. Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard will continue on either side. Fabio Vieira might return to the bench, while Emile Smith Rowe is also an option.
Arteta will continue to start Bukayo Saka on the right but must make a firm decision on his starting striker. Havertz might get a run-in in the centre-forward role to improve his minutes and give Gabriel Jesus a hiatus from the spotlight.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
