Arsenal line-ups vs Aston Villa as Eze and Odegaard start, Gyokeres comes in for Merino

football.london writers give their view on who should start for Arsenal against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.

Arsenal take on Aston Villa, looking to make a real statement in a weekend where their main title rivals, Manchester City, take on a Sunderland side hell-bent on taking points off the top teams. Mikel Arteta will be hoping a win on Saturday lunchtime not only gives them a serious boost but puts the pressure on their title rivals.

A midweek win over Brentford in which Chelsea and Liverpool dropped points did plenty, while City came close to blowing a 5-1 lead at Fulham. Villa, however, managed to overcome a two-goal deficit to beat Brighton.

With that in mind, the pressure to get the line-up right and beat Unai Emery’s side on their own turf is in itself big. Thankfully, our football.london writers are on hand to give their view on who should start.

Tom Canton

It was fantastic to see the rotation in the side against Brentford on Wednesday, and that will certainly give the Gunners a serious boost come Saturday lunchtime. Villa’s test at Brighton included most of their usual starters.

I would bring in Viktor Gyokeres for this, despite Mikel Merino's brilliant form. Villa’s high line, like Burnley’s earlier this season, would be perfect for the Swede, and he had such joy running in behind at Turf Moor.

Elsewhere, I would move Eberechi Eze to the left to allow Martin Odegaard to occupy the central attacking midfield position. William Saliba is hoped to be fit for the game, and if there is a game to take some risks, this might well be it.

Canton’s Arsenal XI vs Aston Villa: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Eze

Joe Doyle

I can see why it's a bit of a dilemma for Mikel Arteta. Obviously, you want to be at full strength for every game, and Aston Villa look the toughest test over the next couple of weeks for Arsenal.

But I think I'd have to make at least a couple of changes here, even with the caveat of injuries.

David Raya starts in goal, and then it'll have to be a back four of Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori. I'm taking no risks with Cristhian Mosquera or William Saliba ahead of the busy period.

Ditto Declan Rice. He's out of the XI, and I'd be tempted not to include him on the bench either, if at all possible. With Martin Odegaard just back from injury too, it's a midfield of Eberechi Eze, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino.

In attack, I'm picking Bukayo Saka on the right with Leandro Trossard to try and work some creative angles for Viktor Gyokeres in the No.9 role.

Doyle’s Arsenal XI vs Aston Villa: Raya; White, Timber, Hincapie, Calafiori; Eze, Zubimendi, Merino; Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres