Arsenal travel to Wanda Metropolitano for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
The Gunners returned to winning ways last weekend with a slender 1-0 victory over Newcastle United. Eberechi Eze scored a sublime winner from outside the box.
Eze was substituted early in the second half due to an injury concern, but after the game, the Englishman clarified that the decision to come off was precautionary.
Hence, he is poised to start against Diego Simeone’s side, but the Gunners are expected to be without Kai Havertz, who is nursing an upper leg issue, as per BBC Sport.
With this in mind, we anticipate manager Mikel Arteta to make two big changes to the XI.
Viktor Gyokeres leads the line
Havertz’s untimely leg injury means that Gyokeres will start upfront for the Gunners once more. The Swede is the club’s top scorer with 18 goals across all competitions this term.
The 27-year-old was a 34th-minute substitute for Havertz against Newcastle. He did not come close to scoring, but he impressed with his hold-up play on multiple occasions.
Gyokeres will be expected to do more of the same against Atletico, while also finding the back of the net.
He scored twice during the 4-0 win over Atletico in the league phase of the Champions League, and hopefully, he can add to his 18-goal tally in the Spanish capital tomorrow.
Bukayo Saka starts again
Saka has not been in an Arsenal starting XI since the Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City last month. He made his first appearance since then during the 1-0 win over the Magpies on Saturday.
The Gunners graduate came on as an 81st-minute substitute for Noni Madueke on the right wing. He immediately provided a lift to the team with his quick feet and good link-up play alongside Martin Odegaard.
Madueke has not quite found the chemistry with Odegaard and Ben White on the right flank. We anticipate Saka to feature from the off against Atletico, having worked on building up his fitness in recent weeks.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com