Arsenal entertain Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
The Gunners have beaten Port Vale and Brighton & Hove Albion to reach the last eight of the Cup competition. They now face a sterner challenge against Oliver Glasner’s side.
For the London derby, manager Mikel Arteta could make eight changes from the 1-0 victory over Everton, which assured Arsenal would stay top of the Premier League at Christmas.
Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal
The Spanish goalkeeper has exclusively played for the Gunners in the Carabao Cup this campaign. He has kept clean sheets in both appearances. Arrizabalaga made a couple of strong saves in the previous outing against Brighton. He is expected to return between the sticks ahead of David Raya.
One change in defence
Arteta has limited options in the backline with Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera nursing injuries. Hence, we anticipate the manager to pick a strong-looking defence with the solitary change coming at left-back with Myles Lewis-Skelly replacing Riccardo Calafiori.
A new midfield
Martin Zubimendi’s training load has been carefully managed in recent weeks. He could feature on the bench on Tuesday. The same can be said for Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard. The former has had a heavy workload, while the latter could be given a breather.
Christian Norgaard is the immediate deputy for Zubimendi in the number six role and should start. He could be accompanied by Mikel Merino in the centre of the park with Eberechi Eze operating as the attacking midfielder against his former employers.
Eze, who scored the winner against Palace in the league earlier this season, was an unused substitute versus Everton. This pretty much confirms his inclusion in the starting XI on Tuesday. Ethan Nwaneri may unfortunately miss out on the starting line-up.
Fresh attack
Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard are bound to be given breathers. Viktor Gyokeres is the regular league and he could likewise drop to the bench. The Gunners have two crucial home league games in the space of four days (Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa) before the New Year.
Gabriel Jesus could make his first start since his long-term knee injury. The Brazilian has a superb record against Palace with 11 goal contributions in 15 games. First of those came last season in the space of three days.
He scored his maiden Arsenal hat-trick in a 3-2 win over the Eagles in the Carabao Cup quarter-final and went on to bag a brace in a 5-1 win in the league soon after. He should relish the prospect of leading the line on Tuesday.
Noni Madueke scored a sublime brace in the Champions League against Club Brugge and has since been an unused substitute for two matches. He is guaranteed to start on the right wing.
Gabriel Martinelli looks poised to feature on the left wing, having only come on as a late substitute for Leandro Trossard on Saturday. He will be aiming to add to his six-goal tally this term.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com