On Thursday, Arsenal face Atalanta in their first Champions League match of the season. The Gunners will be looking to build on their North London derby victory, so leaving Bergamo with all three points is all they’ll be striving for.
For a win, Mikel Arteta should field a dangerous lineup. But, as Arteta prepares a powerful 11 to face the Italians, Adrian Clarke has chosen three Gunners who he feels must play on Thursday night.
The ex-Gunner believes Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, and Jakub Kiwior should start against Atalanta. He argues that Arsenal, with eight games to play to qualify for the UCL knockouts, can still rotate their team on Thursday night, as it’s not a crucial match (there’ll be seven more to play), a chance that’ll allow the trio to build on their momentum and be ready to deliver when needed.
“It’s going to be hard. I’m not saying we should throw this game, but with eight games in the group stage we do have some wiggle room. We need to rotate a bit. I think Jesus has to play from the start, we need to get minutes into him. I’d say the same for Raheem Sterling. I’d even consider Kiwior,” Clarke said on the Handbrake Off podcast.
Against Spurs, several Gunners, who typically do not start, stepped up to replace injured teammates, demonstrating every Gunner’s ability to execute Arteta’s game plan. I wouldn’t be concerned if Arteta goes with Clarke’s request to start the trio, as it will not only fire them up the but also allow some Gunners to conserve their energy for the crucial match against Manchester City. That being stated, aside from the trio, who will be in your starting lineup against Atalanta?
I’d also want Raya, White, Saliba, Timber, and Kiwior to start and continue to build the momentum they’re on. I’d rest Partey for the Manchester City game and play Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri, and Jorginho in midfield. In attack, I’d rest Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, and Bukayo Saka and start Gabriel Martinelli (to help him find consistency), Gabriel Jesus, and Raheem Sterling.
Peter Rix
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I agree and it probably wouldn’t do any harm to make a start against Atalanta. However, the squad rotation argument (generally) comes under more scrutiny if/when such rotation leads to losses. Then it’s often not thought to be such a good idea and it’s back to using the best available players until they drop.
Why rotate
CL is as big as the PL .
Surely rotating and having a bad result means catching up ,is this team good enough to rotate against European opponents no matter how small of a club they may be ,you have to remember how bad Artetas record is in Europe ,verging on being embarrassing for a club our size .
Play the best 11 and see how they compare.
Adpat
Still problems with posts ,just disappearing ,then reappearing 4 hours later .
Articles disappearing as well ,
Not going to want going on old school laptop everytime to see what’s posted ..
Being gone on for a couple of weeks now .
I’m sure this post will again disappear.
Happening to me too.
Partey has played every game so far and we all know he will ‘break’, so I think he should be rested and Jorginho play in his place. It’s more important Partey is fit for the City game IMO.
Yday Ange rotated and almost lost to Coventry
Guess What ?
Everybody bad mouthed him for rotating
If it doesn’t result in a win, the whole world will say it was a bad decision
Plus I know we’re eager to see Nwaneri start but it’s disrespectful to keep hearing people say we should start him against top sides
What happened to substitution ?
Can’t he substituted in ?
Why always saying we should start an untested 17 year old ?
I may not even start him in the EFL ?
To now be suggesting a start against Tottenham, against the Europa Champions
Let him get some substitutions under his belt – then from those performances we’ll be better placed to tell if he’ll be ready for a start
I agree with the views expressed here.
I also think Jorginho should start in midfield with Rice and Partey rested for Sunday