[4-3-3]: Tierney starts, Nwaneri first PL start, Partey returns to normal position and Martinelli benched- Arsenal predicted lineup against Everton as Mikel Arteta replaced Martinelli with academy winger
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has a huge call to make on the left-hand side of the backline for Saturday’s Premier League encounter with Everton at the Emirates.
The Gunners boss is sure to be without long-term knee victims Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White again, while Riccardo Calafiori (knee), Gabriel Magalhaes (unspecified) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (muscle) are all on the touch-and-go list.
If neither Zinchenko nor Calafiori are available, either Myles Lewis-Skelly or Jurrien Timber should fill the void at left-back; Kieran Tierney remains out in the cold despite being handed a lifeline by Arteta.
Lewis-Skelly was given the nod for Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League success against Monaco, where he put in a brilliant shift and recorded a slick pre-assist for Bukayo Saka’s first goal of the evening.
The teenager was handed his opportunity after Timber missed training on Tuesday for unexplained reasons, but the Dutchman is now expected to displace Lewis-Skelly in an otherwise unchanged defence.
Thomas Partey will continue in his makeshift right-back role if Timber bombs down the left, while Jakub Kiwior remains the number one pick alongside William Saliba as Calafiori and Gabriel recover.
Arteta should see no need to alter the midfield trio of Mikel Merino, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, but a couple of changes up top can be expected, barring the indispensable Saka of course.
Neither Gabriel Jesus nor Gabriel Martinelli cut the mustard against Monaco – the latter was fortunate not to be sent off – so Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard are now primed to return to the fold.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Timber; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Saka, Havertz, Trossard
