Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta will be without the services of fundamental fulcrum Thomas Partey for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
The Ghana international received a milestone yellow card in the 2-1 quarter-final second-leg win over Real Madrid, a particularly problematic situation given that Jorginho is also out with a chest problem.
Arteta will therefore likely have no choice but to deploy Declan Rice in the number six position, thus opening the door for Mikel Merino to act as the left eight as opposed to the central striker.
Merino did miss Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace due to a knock, but there is nothing to suggest that the Spaniard will not be fit for Tuesday, where he ought to join Rice and Martin Odegaard in the midfield triumvirate.
With Merino dropping deeper, the in-form Leandro Trossard – who boasts four goals from his last four Premier League appearances – should start in between Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli in the centre of the attack.
There are fewer dilemmas for Arteta to solve further back, where a sturdy Jakub Kiwior and increasingly shaky William Saliba protect David Raya, while Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly try to quell the rampaging Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi.
Ben White (knee) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee) are fighting to be fit for the first leg, but Gabriel Magalhaes (hamstring), Kai Havertz (hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Gabriel Jesus (ACL) and Jorginho (chest) are out.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli
Goal.com
