football.london reporters select their Arsenal starting XIs for the Premier League opener against Coventry City
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal face Coventry on Friday night
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal face Coventry on Friday night
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Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Friday evening when they welcome Coventry City to the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta's champions will be striving to start their campaign on the perfect note following last season's historic triumph and they are armed with fresh blood following the captures of Christos Tzolis and Bruno Guimares.
Arteta conceded there was an element of doubt over Guimaraes' availability following a knock sustained in the Community Shield during his press conference but Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are ready to start.
Still, even if the Brazilian is unable to feature, Arsenal are stacked with a number of strong options and football.london reporters Tom Canton and Ryan Taylor have selected their starting XIs for the clash with the Sky Blues.
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Tom Canton
I just think that, despite both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice featuring over the weekend and doing well, we cannot start the pair. They need to be eased into the season so the club can get the maximum from them.
I think, however, I would go with Max Dowman over Bukayo Saka on the right. I want Max to get many more minutes this season and would invest in him over Madueke.
With Ezri Konsa coming in, Mosquera’s minutes seem much more limited than we thought, but I would trust him here. The player I am most excited about is Christos Tzolis, to see if he can notch on his competitive debut.
Canton's Arsenal XI vs Coventry: Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard; Dowman, Tzolis, Havertz.
Christos Tzolis
Christos Tzolis looks set to start for Arsenal(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Ryan Taylor
I think Mikel Arteta keeps the same team that saw off Manchester City in the Community Shield in such convincing fashion.
There might be an element of temptation to bring Kai Havertz into midfield and go more attacking but if it isn't broke, don't fix it.
That means David Raya starts in goal, Ben White operates at right-back with Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori completing the back-four.
In midfield, Bruno Guimaraes continues alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly with Christos Tzolis, Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke behind Havertz.
Some players will have every right to feel hard done by, Viktor Gyokeres and Max Dowman in particular, but it's going to be a long season and there will be plenty of minutes to go around.
Taylor's Arsenal XI vs Coventry: Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard; Madueke, Tzolis, Havertz.
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