Arsenal will look to seal the top spot in Group A of the Europa League when they welcome FC Zurich to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening.
The Gunners remain at the summit of their Europa League group despite tasting a 2-0 defeat at the hands of PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands last week, as second-half strikes from Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong ensured that the fight for first place goes down to the final game.
The preparations for the final matchday went very well for Mikel Arteta’s side as they smashed Nottingham Forest 5-0 at the weekend to reclaim the top spot in the Premier League.
Arsenal Team News
Bukayo Saka was forced off with a foot injury against Nottingham Forest and will subsequently miss the Europa League game. Emile Smith Rowe is out until after the World Cup, but Mohamed Elneny has returned to training much quicker than anticipated from a serious hamstring problem.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Matt Turner are both doubtful for this game. Granit Xhaka will serve a one-game suspension having picked up his third yellow card of the Europa League campaign in the defeat to PSV Eindhoven last week.
Predicted Arsenal Lineup vs FC Zurich (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
With Matt Turner’s involvement a doubt, Aaron Ramsdale should start in between the sticks against FC Zurich in the Arsenal lineup.
Defence
Lining up in a 4-3-3 formation, a back four of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes and Kieran Tierney could start in front of Ramsdale. Holding will start alongside Gabriel in central defence, with Tomiyasu and Tierney operating as full-backs in the Arsenal lineup.
Arteta will hope his defenders stay focused throughout the 90 minutes and keep back-to-back clean sheets at home in all competitions on Thursday.
Midfield
Granit Xhaka’s suspension could tempt Arteta into starting Albert Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira and Martin Odegaard in midfield in the Arsenal lineup.
Lokonga should act as a destroyer in the No.6 role, providing Odegaard and Vieira with the freedom to go forward and influence Arsenal’s attacks in the final third.
Thomas Partey will be an option off the bench for Arsenal, although Arteta will want to avoid risking the Ghanaian midfielder unnecessarily before the weekend’s trip to Chelsea.
Attack
Reiss Nelson replaced Bukayo Saka in the first half and bagged a brace against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, and Arteta is likely to reward him with a start in the Arsenal lineup. Nelson will join Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah in a pacey, energetic and youthful front three against FC Zurich.
Gabriel Jesus could come off the bench in the second half if Arsenal are in need of a goal.
