After a summer of transfer drama and England bringing football home, the Premier League is back this weekend, with Arsenal travelling to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
After last season’s 2-0 loss away to Brentford on the opening day of the season followed by their 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace later on in the season, it’s pretty obvious why this fixture has been chosen to kick-start the Premier League campaign, though this time, something is different about Arsenal.
The Gunners have been busy this summer, signing five new players and offloading more of the deadwood that Mikel Arteta is intent on clearing out, and after a near-perfect pre-season slate of results, Arsenal and their supporters are full of confidence for the new campaign.
New striker Gabriel Jesus has been a revelation for Arsenal with the Brazilian bagging seven goals in pre-season, whilst fellow Manchester City recruit Oleksandr Zinchenko has also impressed in his brief appearances for the north London side.
With £27m defender William Saliba also back and shining for the Gunners, there’s a real air of optimism about the new season, and this Friday, Arsenal will be eager to send a message to the doubters who are expecting a typical north London collapse at a difficult ground.
Whilst there is an XI most Arsenal fans have in mind, there is never a guarantee that Arteta will select the team that many supporters want to see this Friday, but with that in mind, here are eight players who are seemingly set to start against Palace.
Arsenal’s guaranteed starters vs. Crystal Palace
Aaron Ramsdale asserted himself as Arsenal’s no. 1 last season, and with Bernd Leno this week signing for Fulham, the England international will take the starting position between the sticks, with the aforementioned Saliba and the left-footed Gabriel Magalhaes starting in the centre-back positions.
Fullbacks will be a tough position to call this Friday given the injury concerns of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney, with either player likely to start with Ben White and Zinchenko also in contention to start based on their performances in the last two pre-season games.
In midfield, club captain Martin Odegaard and Granit Xhaka are nailed-on starters, with the pair again shining in pre-season and fully fit ahead of the trip to south London this Friday, with defensive midfield a questionable position that could see one of Thomas Partey or Mohamed Elneny start.
The front three, though, is an area that writes itself, with Gabriel Martinelli, Jesus and Bukayo Saka forming an incredible attacking trident in pre-season that has seen goals galore for the Gunners.
4-0 and 6-0 wins against Chelsea and Sevilla respectively have been huge indicators of how much quality Jesus has brought to the Arsenal attacker, and whilst Eddie Nketiah has also impressed in pre-season after signing a new contract and taking the mythical no. 14 shirt, his Brazilian counterpart has been too good to drop.
Indeed, with the new five substitution rule coming into effect this season, Arsenal will be able to use their depth off the bench to help turn the tide of games they are struggling in, and this is where the likes of Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe will be most useful for the coming campaign.
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