Arsenal host Kazakh side Kairat Almaty at the Emirates Stadium in their final match of this year’s Champions League group stage. The Gunners will be looking to return to winning ways after suffering a major blow in their title charge this week, narrowly losing 3-2 to Manchester United following a late winner from Matheus Cunha.Despite being winless in their last three Premier League matches, Arsenal have been unstoppable in Europe, winning all seven of their Champions League fixtures including giants such as Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Atletico Madrid. Here is our Arsenal predicted lineup and the latest team news.
Arsenal Team News and Predicted Lineup vs Kairat Almaty as two defenders ruled out
How Arsenal Have Lined Up Recently
Arsenal’s January schedule has been nothing short of chaotic, with tonight’s match being their eighth fixture of the month. In their recent 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on January 25 at the Emirates, the Gunners started strong, enjoying large spells of possession, but defensive mistakes and being slow and stagnant in the final third allowed for the Red Devils to capitalise.
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David Raya started in goal with Piero Hincapie, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Jurrien Timber playing at the back. Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard took the midfield with Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus in attack.
The Gunners have been rock solid at the back in this year’s Champions League campaign only conceding 2 goals in their last seven matches. Arsenal will hope to finish the group stage strong with a 100% win record as they make history playing against a Kazakh team for the first time in their history.
Injuries and Suspensions
The big news for Arsenal this week is that both William Saliba and Jurrien Timber will be absent for tonight’s fixture against Kairat. The two defenders sat out in Tuesday’s training session with Mikel Arteta confirming their absence in yesterday’s press conference.“No, those are not (available). It’s a good opportunity now that we make a different kind of work with them to get them in the best possible condition for the weekend hopefully.”he said.
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Midfield duo Declan Rice and Mikel Merino will also be absent with the two serving suspensions after accumulating three yellow cards in the league phase. With four first-team regulars unavailable, Arteta is expected to depend on Christian Norgaard and Martin Zubimendi.“We are used to it, so that’s never going to be an excuse,” the Spaniard added.
Arsenal Predicted Lineup vs Kairat Almaty
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Defence: Ben White – Christian Mosquera – Gabriel Magalhaes – Myles Lewis-Skelly
Midfield: Christian Norgaard – Martin Zubimendi – Eberechi Eze
Forwards: Noni Madueke – Viktor Gyokeres – Bukayo Saka
Featured Image Credit:
IMAGO / Colorsport