1 week ago
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football.london looks at the potential changes Mikel Arteta can make to his Arsenal team for the clash with Crystal Palace
Tom Canton joined football.london as the Arsenal Fan Brand Writer and Presenter before becoming a permanent Arsenal Reporter in 2025. Tom produces plenty of analytical content in addition to breaking stories and is a regular attendee at matches and press conferences. Can also be found on YouTube @TheGoonerTalkTV
Arsenal return to Premier League action this weekend following an excellent outing in Europe. A trouncing of Atletico Madrid at the Emirates Stadium is perhaps the perfect setup to face the Eagles.
Made better by two additional days of preparation time with Oliver Glasner’s team in action against AEK Larnaca in the UEFA Conference League. Equally, both the Gunners’ title rivals are playing away from home with Liverpool at Brentford and Manchester City travelling to Aston Villa.
It could be an interesting weekend of action, and Mikel Arteta has yet more potential good news to come in the coming weeks, with hope over Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke’s fitness. However, for now, he needs to find a way of managing the squad.
He made two changes for the win in midweek, and both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gabriel Martinelli had fantastic performances. He said as much in the press conference and spoke of how they needed to be involved.
“Very good. I think Myles [Lewis-Skelly] and Gabs [Martinelli] were superb,” Arteta said post-match. “The impact, the team, the results, they were great from the beginning.
“And the boys, they come again, and we use them in different ways again. I think we need to try to keep them all involved, believe that they have a chance to play.”
However, Riccardo Calafiori has been so good that the Italian is almost certain to return to the starting eleven at the weekend. He was unfortunate not to have scored a glorious goal at Fulham, only for a tight offside call to rule it out.
However, Martinelli has a better chance with the style of Palace. The Eagles are a threat, and therefore, it could open space for the likes of the winger and therefore Martinelli instead could keep Leandro Trossard out of the side.
Changed Arsenal XI vs Crystal Palace – Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, Eze; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli
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