There’s a Monday night encounter in the midlands to keep Fantasy managers busy as Arsenal look to avenge their Gameweek 1 defeat at the hands of Villa. Arsene Wenger’s currently sit third in the table but a victory over Paul Lambert’s strugglers will help the Gunners back to the summit after both City and Chelsea climbed above them over the weekend:
Wenger will need to do so without the talents of Theo Walcott, though, after the wide man was ruled out for the remainder of the season last week. Mesut Ozil and Per Mertesacker are the most popular Fantasy picks around these parts, though Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud may also have a part to play.
The team news sees Wenger make three changes from the XI that started against Cardiff in the previous Gameweek. On the right, young Serge Gnabry – who also started in last week’s FA Cup win over Spurs – replaces the injured Theo Walcott, whilst Ozil and Giroud return as Mikel Arteta and Lukas Podolski drop out. Jack Wilshere looks set to drop into the double-pivot in Arteta’s absence, with the Spaniard reportedly missing out tonight due to a calf complaint. Elsewhere, Nacho Monreal retains the left-back role ahead of Kieran Gibbs, who is fit enough to take a spot on the bench after a recent calf injury.
For the home side, centre-halves Ron Vlaar and Nathan Baker recover from calf and muscle problems to take their place in the XI. Paul Lambert makes a couple of alterations to the side that started against Sunderland in the last league game, with Ciaran Clarke and Karim El Ahmadi coming in for Leandro Bacuna and Andreas Weimann.
Once again, our Dugout Discussion chatroom is open and will remain available right up until the final whistle.
