Ben White and Leandro Trossard will return to the Arsenal starting lineup when they welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Emirates on Tuesday.
Arsenal will aim to secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals when they host Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates for the round of 16 second leg on Tuesday night. Mikel Arteta has received a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Jurrien Timber is the latest absentee after sustaining a muscular injury in the Premier League clash with Everton this past weekend. The Dutch defender has joined Mikel Merino (foot) in the treatment room. Additionally, Martin Odegaard continues to struggle with a knee complaint.
However, Leandro Trossard should be fit and available to take on Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Trossard, Odegaard, and Timber.
The Arsenal manager said, “He [Trossard] is okay, he felt good so he’s available. So we’re really pushing, he [Odegaard] really wants to try to be available, but we’ll have to wait and see in the next few days when he trains with the team how he feels. We know the game that we’re going to be playing in a few days again, and the more players that we have the better.”
“We don’t know, I think with him [Timber] it will be a matter of days, but not sure. Yeah, he [White] is in a much better place, he’s been very unlucky this season in certain moments, he had very, very good moments as well throughout the season, so yeah, we need everybody available, we know what Ben gives us when he’s at his best, and he trained today, he feels good, so we need everybody’s contribution.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in the 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Bayer Leverkusen. The backline will feature Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Piero Hincapie, with the latter replacing Riccardo Calafiori.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice in the double pivot. Eberechi Eze will reprise the no. 10 role, with Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard being the two wide attackers. Finally, Kai Havertz will continue to lead the line for the home side against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday. So, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli will be among the backup options on the bench.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Trossard; Havertz