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Cofirmed Arsenal team to face PSV in Champions League opener

We are all waiting to see how the new “ruthless” Arteta sets out his Arsenal side to make sure we use rotation and also we make sure we get the three points. It’s obvious that the Group Stages are the best time to take risks with your squad depth, especially as we have a massive North London Derby coming up at the weekend.

But who will Arteta choose? I think he may have rested some stars against Everton so they will be fit for tonight, like Jesus and Havertz only coming on as subs, but will he really take many chances on our return to the Champions League?

Some players really can’t be rested right now, like Declan Rice, Gabriel, Ben White and Saka, who will all be desperate to play, but it is difficult to second guess Arteta right now.

So, let’s look at who Arteta has decided as his starting XI right now…..

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89 Comments

  1. Thats full strength team.
    I expected Rambo to be back in, but Arteta has his plans I guess.. whoever starts in goal, great for us.
    Let’s get this win and make I convincing. COYG

  2. Well no surprise here our strongest team to start the campaign. Last season Arteta didn’t rotate at all apart from EL and cups which was annoying, our depth wasn’t great but even the ones available like ESR trossard didn’t get much time unless injuries. looked like he didn’t trust our bench at all.

    This season we have a bigger squad to the point when injuries to Timber and Partey are not catastrophic and happy to see Arteta rotating more. Hope it continues

    1. Will be following havertz performance more this night. Since we are pretty much back to last season starting 11, there is no excuse of team still gelling to new formation and havertz struggling along with them. If havertz gets bypassed during build up or look clueless to where he should be this will be a very bad sign.

  6. Excellent line up. Some predicted ones were just ridiculous.

    We won’t rotate players by the bulk this season

  7. Great Arteta as put our strongest team out available ,let’s hope we can have a proper showing this time round in Europe on the big stage ,because his record in the EL was dismal to say the least .
    COYG

  11. 4-3-3 formation, surprise surprise…no idea why we see some crazy predicted line-up formations on this forum

    only concern is potentially overplaying injury prone Zinchenko,
    and Saka while not injury prone need to keep him fresh

    i wonder if a big win here might release the shackles on proper rotation because this is not sustainable for 55+ games, i.e. Saliba, Saka, Rice, Odegaard, Zinchenko, White, Martinelli playing every game until their injured…oops!

  12. Rooting for Havertz tonight. Hope it will be his Arsenal breakthrough. I wish he will push himself more to prove himself.

    1. Mate if Havertz can’t produce something except from 4 knock ons against this week PSV team then he has no hope .
      Hopefully he hits a couple goals for everyone’s sake .

      1. Well Zinchenko just played him the perfect ball over the top and he was completely asleep….whole defense was pushing out too so lots of time 🤦

      3. I agree that there will be no hope. If he hasn’t for 6 games plus pre season chances are slim he will improve drastically.

  22. Surely it cant be just me that sees how relaxed the defenders look with Raya. Ramsdale has strong competition on his hands. Saka needs some competition as well .

  24. We’re literally playing with nine men.I dont know how to say this but Arteta needs to understand that Havertz has alot of learning to do before he starts contributing to the team.

  27. Great goal, gilf in class between Jesus and Eddie!

    Trossard and Sake both with a goal and assist, what a return UCL

  29. Rampant Arsenal, Ben White has been watching too much rugby for the yellow .

    Tossard is such an intelligent player

  32. Arsenal were nervous at the beginning of the game and still making plenty of mistakes till the 35th minute, but PSV played too openly at the Emirates and their defense was awful

    PSV let Odegaard made diagonal passes and Zinchenko showed that he’s one of the best inverted-LBs in the world

    It’s time to relax and conserve their energy for the NLD

  40. Saka should have been sub off for nelson to freshing up for the NLD.
    What should trossard do to guarantee game time this guy is going for a hat trick for Gods sake MA.

  41. Arteta should learn to rotate.
    He needs to trust his entire squad to produce results. You can’t continue to play the same front 3 all season. Take off Saka and Rice. Bring in Jorginho and ESR.

    1. Hahaha rusty as hell😄

      What a left foot, Captain Odegaard is so much at home, he could be donning slippers in this midfield.

  43. I always defend the team and the players no matter what Wenger/emery/arteta. I always backed Arteta over the top based upon my own personal research and opinion. Today is the first time I’ve watched the team and just been repeatedly wowed and thought we are just special! So many hand in mouth moments from individuals and the tactics. Proud gunner. Can we say we got our club back now?

    1. No. Because we have quality players as well who can deliver but the manager is scared of starting them. That was what cost us the league last season. This is the first game of the champions league. If he had rotated more, the guys would be fresh for the north London derby. Winning by 4 goals is still 3 points. Losing or drawing against spurs is what we can’t afford to do. We have to keep closing the gap to man city at this stage of the season. Fatigue will soon set in with the manager failing to utilize his squad effectively.

        1. Angus. My point is I’m worried with Arteta team selection.
          If we have a big squad, we should rotate and give game time to the players. Pep would start Mayhez In a match, the guy scores a hat trick and is on the bench the next match. He rotated his team. So when he brings anyone in, there is no drop in quality. I just want to see Saka or Rice injured or burn out. The season is long

          2. De bruyne when fit, rodri, haaland. Pep has players that start every week. Rodri generally doesn’t score fantasy points and isn’t good on fifa so is forgot. De bruyne and now haaland massive expensive fantasy assets because they play week in week out and hit that mark.

            Messi at Barca never rested could go on. Top players play every 3 days because their slightly tired is better than others best.

            Now injuries need to be managed but name Sakas lengthy injury lay off?

            1. To add the ignorance on the double or treble up at times on Saka is insane given his supposed poor form and his actual very good goal involvement. Regardless the space that buys everyone else is priceless.

  44. Arteta. Stop playing the same players week in week out.

    Declan Rice must not start every match

    Trust all your players. Be bold enough to start Jorginho from the beginning. You have a north London derby at the weekend. It is a must win match. This was what cost is last season. We lost Saliba to an injury and we lost our momentum.
    Jorginho can start these kind of games. ESR can start as well. Is it until the same set of players burn out at the business end of the season.
    Why is Arteta scared? Or is he showing undue favoritism?
    I don’t get it.

    4. Here we go again! Another daft fan talks about MA having “favourites”!.

      In full context, all managers have “favourites”, which is why they start matches with them, as they are considered the best choice for a likely win and for NO other reason.

      MA is no different, as he is paid to win matches and BELIEVE IT OR NOT( I realise it is a difficult thing for CERTAIN FANS TO GRASP), but picking the best players to start games is what managers have been doing since football first ever started.

      But back then, there were not the amount of fools out there making daft claims about favourites, on JA
      But that does not mean they are PERSONAL FAVOURITES as a number of silly fans constantly claim, unthinkingly. Sigh!
      IMO, any Gooner who even now criticises our wonderful manager, is clearly in need of mental help!

        1. He is spot on because I raised an opinion on the need to rotate the team more so as to avoid injuries. He is also spot on for the insults right? lol

      2. @ Jon, my opinion is simple. Why overplaying certain players while some hardly get game time? The champions league is still along way to go. If we have another match next week, Arteta would start same 11 on Wednesday, the next Saturday and the Wednesday that follows. These players are not machines. My Love for the manager and the team should not cloud my judgement. We lost the league last season because of fatigue. I am only concern about Saka and Rice not picking up long term injuries. The case of Jack wilshere Comes to mind. Injuries due to playing too many games at such a young age.
        No issues. No need for the insults. It is my opinion. And I think I am entitled to it. Cheers

    5. Skills1000 – you should be next Arsenal manager.
      You will be number 1 better than Sir Alex.
      Go ahead mate and apply.

  45. Smith Rowe seems to have gone straight in the middle, Vieira on the right in space of Saka and the big German is now leading the line.

  47. What a way to mark our return to the big deal, three precious points in the bag. All attention now to the visit of our noisy neighbours. COYG!!!

    1. Jesus alone should have score 4

      Odegaard is in the mood and needs only a pair of slippers to be more comfortable in midfield.

      What a lucky lad Raya has been, in two games he now has more clean sheets than the Englishman.

      What a signing Tossard has been having stumbled upon after the Ukrainian taken us for a ride.

      Saka is in the mood, it may take an act of God to stop him in the North London Derby.

      Ramsdale has to play all premier league games from now on, else absolutely no one can blame the kid if he should toss his toys out the pram.

      It was a pleasure to see Smith Rowe grace the pitch, one fan ask if he was really alive.

      Zinchenko was massive tonight so too was Saliba and Magalhaes.

      Something tells me the North London Derby will belong to Declan Rice.

  48. What is wrong with all these people crying about wrong selection all the time? If you are that good why can’t you go and get coaching jobs. Arteta is doing the right thing at the moment, we should play our best legs, period.

    1. We are all entitled to our own opinions. I did not start watching football yesterday. Yes. We should play our best legs. But I have seen a enough to think that Saka should not start every game. The essence of squad depth is to have players you trust enough to achieve at the big stages. What is the essence of that big squad if you don’t utilize them enough? I am not hating on Arteta. But when I see a weakness, I will surely point it out. Cheers

      1. What you see is not weakness but a way to make unnecessary complain after a beautiful match. Give example of one single match in the league and Uefa match in which Pep ever rotate 5 players at a time in his first eleven for Man city.

        1. @JPS, it is not ego. In life you have to have diverse views. I can tell you why we lost the league last season. The injury to Saliba
          Players like Saka and Rice are so good. They perform at the required level week in week out.
          Any injury to them would make us weak. I just don’t want injuries to these key players. I wanted them to be fresh for the North London Derby. Anyways, it is my opinion. At the end of the day, we all want the best for the club. Cheers

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