Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard will return to the Arsenal starting lineup when they take on Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday.
Arsenal will be eager to return to wining ways in the Premier League when they lock horns with Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon. Mikel Arteta has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
William Saliba and Jurrien Timber are fit and available to take on Leeds United after shrugging off minor knocks that forced them to miss the UEFA Champions League clash with Kairat Almaty earlier this week.
So, Max Dowman is the only absentee, as the youngster is recovering from an ankle complaint. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Saliba, Timber, and Dowman.
The Arsenal manager said, “We didn’t have any surprises there, hopefully everybody will train well today and be available for tomorrow. They are OK, obviously they have been playing a lot of minutes. They’ve been carrying a few niggles. It was a really good opportunity (against Kairat) to offload them a little bit and refresh them.”
“It will be a little bit more than Mosquera’s. He’s growing and we need to be very careful and a little more protective. He has a different schedule as well because he needs to go to school, so we need to respect a lot of things throughout that process. But I think he’s quite close. He’s on the pitch now, he’s doing well and hopefully we’re going to be able to see him soon.”
Arteta also discussed Riccardo Calafiori’s progress during his presser. The Arsenal boss said, “Richy has been instrumental, especially in the way we attack. He has unique qualities to occupy spaces and to create things that probably the qualities of the other full-backs are different. So when we need them, they will be there. Now he’s fit, he’s available and we’ll have to wait and see when we can use him.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Leeds United on Saturday. The backline will feature Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Riccardo Calafiori.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in the double pivot, with Martin Odegaard reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Viktor Gyokeres will lead the line for the away side against Leeds United, with Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard being the two wide attackers. So, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Gabriel Martinelli will be among the backup options on the bench.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Odegaard, Trossard; Gyokeres
