Arsenal will aim to make it back-to-back wins in their Champions League group-stage campaign on Tuesday evening when they travel to France to face RC Lens.
The Gunners cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven in their Champions League group-stage opener last month, thus, returning to the elite European competition with a bang after a six-year absence. Mikel Arteta’s side are in great form at the moment and smashed Bournemouth 4-0 at the Vitality Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.
High on confidence, the North London outfit will be favourites going into this clash against RC Lens, who drew 1-1 with Sevilla away in their first Champions League group-stage fixture.
Arsenal Team News
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Bukayo Saka picked up a bad knock in the 4-0 win over Bournemouth and was subsequently substituted in the second half, although he remains hopeful the winger will be available against RC Lens. Gabriel Jesus also remains a doubt after sustaining a knock late on in the game.
Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey are already set to miss out through injury but Declan Rice and William Saliba overcame issues to play on the weekend.
Predicted Arsenal lineup vs RC Lens (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
David Raya will retain his place in goal, having kept two clean sheets in three games across all competitions for the Gunners. The Spaniard must produce a top display to keep RC Lens away from finding the back of the net on Tuesday.
Defence
In front of Raya, William Saliba will continue his partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes in the heart of Arsenal’s defence.
Ben White is a mainstay in defence and should retain his spot at right-back in the Arsenal lineup, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is a certainty at left-back. The Ukrainian will look to step into midfield and help Arsenal dominate possession.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior should offer defensive cover to the team from the bench.
Midfield
Declan Rice should hold the fort in the middle of the park, hoping to keep things ticking for the Gunners. Kai Havertz scored his first Arsenal goal at the weekend in the win over Bournemouth, albeit from the penalty spot. He justified his selection with a decent performance and is likely to retain his place in midfield.
Martin Odegaard is one of the first names on the team sheet, and he will be responsible for pulling the strings and unlocking the Lens defence.
Attack
While Bukayo Saka sustained a bad knock, Arteta remains hopeful of having him available against Lens. If that’s the case, he should start on the right flank with Leandro Trossard likely to be picked on the left wing in the Arsenal lineup after being an unused substitute in the 4-0 win over Bournemouth.
In attack, it is a toss-up between Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah, but Jesus may suit the qualities of Saka and Trossard on either side better than Nketiah in this game, meaning the Brazilian will be in line to lead the Arsenal attack on Tuesday.
