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Saturday is set to be hugely eventful for Arsenal, with the first-team, U21s and U18s all in action. This will inevitably lead to some selection decisions having to be made, especially with regards to players who have previously been called up at various levels.
First-team – Newcastle (home) – 5.30pm
The first-team are at home to Newcastle in another hugely important game in the Premier League title race.
If the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber are back available then it could be useful in terms of freeing up Marli Salmon to be with the U21s.
Highly rated defender Salmon has been on the fringes of the first-team squad recently and was the extra man for last weekend’s game against Manchester City.
A decision also needs to be made regarding who the third-choice goalkeeper will be. Tommy Setford usually fulfils such duties but he could feature for the U21s instead, which could mean that either Khari Ranson or Remy Mitchell may be involved with the first-team.
With the exception of Max Dowman, who is already part of the first-team squad, it doesn’t seem like any other academy players will be required to be with the senior team tomorrow.
Potential squad:
Raya
White-Saliba-Gabriel-Hincapie
Zubimendi-Rice
Odegaard
Martinelli-Havertz-Eze
Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Trossard, Madueke, Jesus, Gyokeres.
Third-choice goalkeeper: Ranson
Extra man: Norgaard
Injured: Merino, Saka, Timber
___
U21s – Manchester City (away) – 7pm
Arsenal U21s face Manchester City away in their last-16 playoff fixture.
City, last season’s champions, will certainly pose a significant threat and Arsenal will be looking to avoid a repeat of last season when they were eliminated by the same opponents at the quarter-finals stage.
As alluded to, coach Max Porter will hope to have the strongest possible squad available to him, which could include Setford and Salmon.
Potential squad (*- Eligible for U18s)
Setford
Hamill*-Clarke-Salmon*-Washington
Ibrahim*-Dudziak
O’Neill*-Agustien-Harriman Annous*
Mooney*
Subs: Mitchell, Ogunnaike*, Ferdinand, Bailey-Joseph*, Stevens.
Injured: Dixon, Rojas, Julienne*
Other options: Nichols, Ismail
—
U18s – West Ham (away) – 11am
This is the least significant game of the three as Arsenal U18s aren’t in contention for the league title.
However, Adam Birchall’s side will still be looking to build upon their midweek win against Reading and will probably be able to field a similar side to that fixture.
Potential squad (*- Eligible for U16s)
Porter
Sampang-Owusu Gyasi-Stachow-Abubakar*
Murisa
Hashi-Emerson Nwaneri*
Zecevic John-Thompson*-Marciniak
Subs: Lupinski, Van der Straaten*, Nduka*, B. Phillips, G. Arteta.
Injured: Frohock, King, Tahou
Other options: Onyekachukwu, Mbala*, Odaji-Ukueku*, Pedro*, Purdy*, Sesay*, Bonaventure Yetna*, C. Phillips*, Munoz*.