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Arteta makes a change, 20-year-old changes role: Arsenal’s predicted XI vs Chelsea

Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
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Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

All of a sudden, Arsenal’s season is in serious danger of going off the rails.

The Gunners looked to be comfortably on track to finish fourth in the Premier League, but after three losses in a row, they’re undoubtedly on the slide.

Unfortunately for the London club, their fixture list doesn’t get any easier from here on in with Manchester United, West Ham and Tottenham all on the horizon.

However, before any of those games, Mikel Arteta has to navigate another London derby against top opposition in the shape of Chelsea.

The Blues come into this one as favourites, but as we’ve seen this season, Arteta’s Arsenal can bloody the noses of even the Premier League’s strongest teams, but in order to get a result here, they’ll have to be at their best.

With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting Arsenal’s starting XI for this one.

We think that, due to a lack of depth, Mikel Arteta will make just one change for this game.

The back five stays the same, and while Takehiro Tomiyasu may make the matchday squad, he probably won’t be thrown straight into the XI.

Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga once again start in the midfield, while there are some changes in the attacking third.

Emile Smith Rowe comes back into the team on the left, while Bukayo Saka shifts back over to the right.

Martin Odegaard once again starts in the number 10 role, but this time he starts behind Gabriel Martinelli, who has proven once before that he can cause Chelsea problems as a number nine.

Gakpo Pepe Martinelli Arsenal PSV
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images