Arsenal begin their Premier League title defence against Coventry City on Friday night, with Mikel Arteta facing several major selection decisions after Sunday’s Community Shield victory over Manchester City.
The champions could hardly have asked for a better competitive start, beating City 3-0 in Cardiff despite several established players beginning outside the starting XI.
Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres were among those not selected from the start, while William Saliba and Jurrien Timber remain sidelined. Arteta confirmed before the Community Shield that Rice and Saka were available after their World Cup breaks, but Timber still needed several weeks before returning to full training and Saliba remained out with a back injury.
That leaves Arteta with some intriguing decisions for the Emirates opener.
Arsenal predicted XI vs Coventry City
GK: David Raya
There is little debate in goal. Raya should retain his place after keeping a clean sheet against City.
RB: Cristhian Mosquera
CB: Gabriel Magalhaes
CB: Piero Hincapie
LB: Riccardo Calafiori
Saliba’s continued absence is the biggest defensive issue. Timber is not yet ready to return, while Ben White’s fitness also needs monitoring.
Mosquera gives Arteta another option on the right, with Hincapie capable of partnering Gabriel centrally.
Calafiori should be extremely difficult to remove after scoring only 24 seconds into the Community Shield. His aggressive movement gave Arsenal a completely different threat from left-back.
CM: Declan Rice
CM: Bruno Guimaraes
AM: Martin Odegaard
Rice was available for Sunday but had only recently returned following England’s World Cup run. Friday gives Arteta another five days to build his condition.
Guimaraes impressed against City before being withdrawn at half-time, while Odegaard scored Arsenal’s third and remains central to the manager’s plans.
The biggest question is whether Arteta immediately breaks up a midfield that performed so well in Cardiff, particularly after Myles Lewis-Skelly impressed centrally.
RW: Bukayo Saka
ST: Kai Havertz
LW: Christos Tzolis
This is where the difficult decision arrives.
Gyokeres scored 21 goals last season, but Arteta selected Havertz against Manchester City and the German rewarded him by scoring Arsenal’s second. Tzolis supplied Havertz’s goal during a two-assist performance.
Dropping Havertz four days later would therefore be a huge call.
Saka should come back into contention after Arteta confirmed his availability, while Tzolis has surely done enough to keep his place following an outstanding competitive debut.
That would leave Gyokeres as perhaps the most expensive substitute in Arteta’s squad.
Coventry should present a very different tactical problem from City, and the Swede could yet be preferred against opponents Arsenal expect to pin deep for long periods.
But after Havertz scored in a trophy-winning performance, our prediction is that Arteta rewards him with the first No.9 start of the Premier League season.
ReadArsenal predicted XI
Raya; Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie, Calafiori; Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Tzolis.
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