It’s been a while since we put in anything Match day related, so here goes..
Arsenal have been training for their first pre-season friendly against french club RC Lens, ahead of the tour of the United States. Several key figures at Arsenal who featured for their respective sides at the Euros, and the Copa America have been given a break and will not feature for this game.
One can expect a mix of experience and youth going into this one, not unlike several such fixtures we have seen in the past
Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil Jack Wilshere Petr Cech and Alexis Sanchez, (who won the Copa America with Chile) have all been asked to rest up before the United states tour, while veteran midfielder Santi Cazorla who had to regretfully miss out on the European championship, is out injured.
New boy Xhaka is unlikely to feature in this game as he has only just arrived at London Colney.
Several youngsters from the Arsenal’s reserves were spotted training with the first team, such as Polish youth international Krystian Bielik and German-turned American starlet Gedion Zelalem.
Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Chris Willock, Ben Sheaf and Marcus McGuane are some of the other young names that could be on the team sheet for this one, at least according to The International Business Times, who have in their story followed this up real close.
The first team-fringe brigade; the likes of Yaya Sanogo and Chuba Akpom will also see the light of day if given a chance, provided that they have been loaned out consecutively to clubs in England and in Europe.
Last year’s loanee Carl Jenkinson is still undergoing rehab after returning last year from an injury. So is Germany starlet Serge Gnabry, apparently. Meanwhile, Goalkeeper Emilano Martinez is back at the club and available for this game.
With this backdrop, Theo Walcott, Per Mertesacker, Francis Coquelin, Mohammad Elneny, Alex Iwobi, Gabriel, Joel Campbell, Nacho Monreal, Kieran Gibbs and Calum Chambers, players who did not go to represent their countries in the Euros, are all definite starters for this game. While Arsene Wenger would like to throw in as many youngsters as possible for the opportunity, he will also be mindful of the fact that it is the first team regulars who need to hit the pitch and prepare for the upcoming season.
Provided this backdrop, here is what Arsenal’s line up for this game could look like;
Emilano Martinez
Calum Chambers, Per Mertesacker, Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs
Mohammad Elneny, Francis Coquelin
Joel Campbell, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Alex Iwobi
Theo Walcott
Among those injured, are Santi Cazorla, (as mentioned above) ,Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain.
