Declan Rice Arteta Arsenal
Arsenal are set to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last-16 second leg at the Emirates Stadium tonight.
The Gunners only managed to come away with a 1-1 draw courtesy of Kai Havertz’s late equaliser from the penalty spot in the first leg last week. So, the tie is nicely poised at the moment.
Arsenal will be coming into this game off the back of a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Everton in the Premier League. As a result of that win, Mikel Arteta’s side have extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points, having played an extra game.
On the other hand, Leverkusen have won only one of the last seven matches across all competitions and even failed to beat nine-man Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga last weekend.
So, Arsenal are heavy favourites to reach the quarter-final of the Champions League by winning tonight.
Team news
Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard remain sidelined due to their respective injury problems. Moreover, Jurrien Timber picked up a knock last weekend and was taken off before the interval. So, he isn’t in contention to be involved in this fixture.
On the other hand, Leandro Trossard hasn’t featured in the last two games, having sustained a minor issue against Mansfield Town in the FA Cup fifth round earlier this month. But he is ready to be involved.
Predicted line-up
David Raya is set to be between the sticks, while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes should be the centre-back pairing for the North London club.
Ben White has had fitness problems this season, so Arteta may opt to start Cristhian Mosquera at right-back, with Piero Hincapié on the opposite side ahead of Riccardo Calafiori.
Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice are set to be the double midfield pivot, while Eberechi Eze is expected to get the nod to start in the creative midfield role.
Noni Madueke might be on the right, while Trossard could be on the left. So, Max Dowman, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli may feature as substitutes if needed.
Viktor Gyokeres is likely to lead the line for Arsenal after putting his name on the scoresheet last time out; in that case, Havertz should be involved off the bench.
Expected Arsenal line-up vs Leverkusen
Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapié; Zubimendi, Rice, Eze; Madueke, Gyokeres, Trossard
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