Football MatchesFootball news

[4-2-3-1]: Formation changed, Saka position changed and Nwaneri starts in a strange position- Arsenal predicted lineup against Real Madrid as Mikel Arteta changed formation in the quest to stop Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe

Arsenal host Real Madrid tonight in their bid to reach their first Champions League semi-final since 2009.

Gunners’ star winger, Bukayo Saka is fit again after featuring as a substitute in their last two matches. The north London side will be hoping that he will be able to feature from the start at the Emirates.

Injuries, suspensions and doubts

Arsenal: Riccardo Califiori (out) Gabriel Magalhães (out) Kai Havertz (out) Takehiro Tomiyasu (out) Gabriel Jesus (out) Raheem Sterling (suspended)

Real Madrid Dani Carvajal (out) Dani Ceballos (out) Eder Militao (out) Aurélien Tchouaméni (suspended) Andriy Lunin (doubt) Ferland Mendy (doubt)

Predicted line-ups

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Ødegaard, Rice, Partey, Saka, Merino, Martinelli

Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Asensio, Rudiger, Fran Garcia, Modric, Camavinga, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius

Recent form

Arsenal come into this tie off a draw with Everton who currently sit 15th in the Premier League table and had not won in their last four matches. However, Arsenal won two London derbies against Fulham and Chelsea respectively just before that.

Real Madrid’s weekend was similarly poor after they lost 2-1 to Valencia at home. Vinicius had a chance to put Los Blancos ahead from the spot but his penalty was saved by the Liverpool bound goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. They went on to concede the winner five minutes into injury time at the end of the second half.

What’s been said?

Mikel Arteta says that Saka could play a significant part in tonight’s match after his recent return from hamstring surgery last December.

READ ALSO  HERE WE GO: Manchester United finally agree a huge transfer fee to sign Premier League proven striker who has more League goals than Cole Palmer last season

“Saka is in a much better place. Gradually we have built his minutes in the last six or seven days. He’s coped with that really well and he’s in a good place to be able to be used.”

READ ALSO  TERMS AGREED: Man United’s reach final agreement to sign Brazilian winger who has been identified as Rashford’s perfect replacement

Carlo Ancelloti explained that Real Madrid’s experience will be key in getting them through the tie.

“There is a lot of pressure on this game, the experience is really important. The fact we have a lot of players that have already played this kind of game gives the [experienced] players and the younger [players] more confidence.”

READ ALSO  "I'll resign if any of them is sold...They are my backbone here and I won't take that for levity": Man United’s coach Ruben Amorim has named TWO players the board must NOT sell this January

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
error: Content is protected !!

Adblock Detected

Disabled to continue