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The 2026/27 Champions League group stage begins tonight as Arsenal welcome Lille to the Emirates Stadium.
We went painfully close to winning our first Champions League trophy last season – losing to PSG on penalties – so Mikel Arteta will want to go one step further this season.
We kick things off against Lille this evening and the boss has made some changes from the side that came from behind to beat Leeds United in the Premier League at the weekend.
David Raya keeps goal once again while Jurrien Timber is recalled to start at right-back with Ben White making way. Ezri Konsa continues alongside Gabriel Magalhaes in the middle of Arsenal’s defence while Riccardo Calafiori is rested. Myles Lewis-Skelly drops to left-back with Piero Hincapie ruled out with an ankle injury.
Declan Rice keeps his place in midfield and Bruno Guimaraes is recalled to start his first Champions League game as an Arsenal player. Mikel Merino also gets a start so Martin Odegaard is rested.
Bukayo Saka is given a breather after a poor display at the weekend. Noni Madueke moves to the right flank with Eberechi Eze recalled on the left. Christos Tzolis is ruled out once again.
Kai Havertz drops to the bench with Viktor Gyokeres recalled to lead the line up front.
These are the line-ups for the game:
Arsenal
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Raya; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Rice, Guimaraes; Madueke, Merino, Eze; Gyokeres
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Meslier, Calafiori, Mosquera, White, Salmon, O’Neill, Hashi, Saka, Odegaard, Havertz, Dowman
Lille
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Özer; Perraud, Alexsandro, Ngoy, Goffi; Bentaleb, André; Mukau, Haraldsson, Bakwa; Ueda.
Subs: