Bruno Guimaraes will be in contention to make his Premier League bow for Arsenal when they take on Aston Villa at Villa Park on Monday.
Arsenal will aim to continue the perfect start to the 2026/27 season when they lock horns with Aston Villa at Villa Park on Monday night. Mikel Arteta has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Bruno Guimaraes is fit and available to take on Aston Villa after recovering from a minor groin issue that forced him to miss the game against Coventry City in Gameweek 1. Ezri Konsa is also in contention to take on his former club after training with his new teammates all week.
So, William Saliba (back) and Jurrien Timber (groin) are the only players in the treatment room, though the latter should return before the international break. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Guimaraes, Konsa, Saliba, and Timber.
The Arsenal manager said, “Yes, potentially available. We just managed the last few days with him [Guimaraes]. He’s out on the pitch. He’s been doing training sessions. But we need to manage his load to get to Monday in the best possible condition to be able to get selected.”
“Yes he [Konsa] is available. He’s trained really well and he will be available for selection. If I see something different in the player then I may have a question about that, but the way I’ve seen Ezri since day one, knowing his personality really well and through people that have worked with him, I have no concern there.”
“Jurrien is progressing really well. Let’s see how he ends up this week. It’s the third week in a row that he’s been outside and we have increased his load. So he’s on the right trajectory, if everything goes well, I think next week we’re going to step it up again. Wilo, obviously not much, he’s in conservative load management right now, so that’s going to take a while.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him against Aston Villa on Monday. The backline will feature Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Riccardo Calafiori. So, Konsa must bide his time for his first start for the Gunners.
As for the midfield unit, Myles Lewis-Skelly will line up alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard again, with Bruno Guimaraes being an option off the bench. Finally, Kai Havertz will lead the line for the away side on Monday, with Christos Tzolis and Bukayo Saka being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Havertz, Tzolis