Arsenal will seek to keep their Europa League hopes alive when they take on Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano on Thursday night.
The Gunners were guilty of handing a costly away goal during the semi-final first leg last week and they now need to score at least once in Madrid to overturn the tie.
Formation: 4-3-3
Lineup:
David Ospina was struggling with a rib problem during the backend of the Gunners’ 2-1 defeat at United and this could hand a rare European start for Petr Cech in Madrid.
In defence, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal are undisputed starters in the right and left-back positions and they should be accompanied by Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi at the heart of the backline.
Granit Xhaka has made the most of appearances for an Arsenal player this term and the Swiss is very much certain to occupy the holding midfield role with Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey playing ahead of him.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan suffered a minor recurrence of his knee injury during the United game and this may witness Danny Welbeck earning the starting spot.
In this case, the Englishman is likely to start on the left wing with Mesut Ozil on the right whilst Alexandre Lacazette is a sure starter in the Gunners frontline.
Atleti have not conceded a goal in 11 straight outings – a record which dates back to January, but Arsene Wenger’s side can take heart from the performance of cross-town rivals Chelsea, who scored twice at the Wanda Metropolitano in September.
