Arsenal will look to strengthen their claims for automatic qualification from the Champions League group stage when they host Monaco on Wednesday night.
The Gunners bounced back from their loss to Inter Milan with a superb thrashing of Sporting CP last time out and will look to keep up the good work.
Arsenal are also doing well in the Premier League, though they dropped more points in their last top-flight game, a 1-1 draw with Fulham.
TBR Football now looks at who Mikel Arteta could pick in his starting XI for the game at the Emirates Stadium.
Joshua Robinson of Arsenal gives his team instructions during the Premier League 2 match between Chelsea U21 and Arsenal U21 at Kingsmeadow on Nove...
Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
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Arsenal team news v Monaco
A defensive crisis has sprung up at Arsenal, with several key players not seen in Tuesday’s training session.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori all missed the session.
Likewise, Thomas Partey – who can play at right-back – was absent from the training contingent.
Arteta was coy about the missing players when speaking at Tuesday’s pre-match press conference.
He told reporters: “We have to manage a lot of the players, so they’re probably not going to be fit for tomorrow and are a doubt.
“I still have 24 hours to make those decisions and hopefully the right ones.”
Defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu both remain sidelined for Arsenal with knee problems.
Arsenal predicted XI v Monaco
Assuming all the players who missed Tuesday’s session are unavailable, then Arteta will have to name a makeshift back four.
William Saliba and Jakub Kiwior will offer stability at centre-back as both have featured plentifully this term.
The full-back positions are trickier, and Arteta may have no choice but to use Kieran Tierney and Josh Robinson.
Tierney has not played for Arsenal since August 2023, while Robinson, a 19-year-old right-back, would be making his senior Gunners debut.
Robinson has, however, been in three Champions League matchday squads this season, so he has had some experience of European nights.
The rest of the Arsenal XI should be a bit more straightforward.
David Raya would be in goal, while the midfield three should be composed of Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard.
As for the front line, Kai Havertz is likely to lead the line with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli either side of him.
Arsenal predicted starting XI v Monaco
Arsenal predicted starting XI v Monaco (4-3-3): Raya; Robinson, Saliba, Kiwior, Tierney; Rice, Odegaard, Merino; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
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