It’s Arsenal vs Olympique Lyon in the Dubai Super Cup tomorrow, and here’s our predicted XI.
After a behind-closed-doors friendly defeat to Watford a few days ago, Mikel Arteta will want his lads to get a win on the board. The game against Lyon will be a good test, but we’ll be without a number of our regulars.
Here’s how we think Arsenal will line up tomorrow in Dubai.
Predicted Arsenal XI vs Lyon in Dubai
Arsenal are expected to be without every player who took part in the World Cup. That means we’ll see Arteta go with a much-changed lineup than usual.
With Aaron Ramsdale and Matt Turner both not back yet, we expect young Karl Hein to start in goal.
The 20-year-old made his debut in the League Cup earlier this season and he had an evening to forget. However, he’s a hugely talented player, and it will be interesting to see how he’ll fare against Alexandre Lacazette’s Lyon.
With Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White both not in Dubai, Cedric Soares will get his opportunity at right-back. Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes look likely to start in the heart of the defence, while we expect Oleksandr Zincehnko to get the nod over Kieran Tierney at left-back.
Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka have both been knocked out of the World Cup, but we don’t expect them to play a part tomorrow. That means Albert Sambi Lokonga will get an opportunity to show what he’s all about after a disappointing first half of the season.
We expect Arteta to name a fairly attacking midfield alongside Lokonga. We think skipper Martin Odegaard will start on one side with Fabio Vieira getting the nod on the opposite side.
Our attack will be a completely different one to what we’ve mostly seen this season as Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus are all unavailable at the moment.
We think Arteta will go with a front three of Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and young Marquinhos – the latter two scored against Watford a few days ago.
Predicted Arsenal XI vs Lyon: Hein, Cedric Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Lokonga, Vieira, Odegaard, Nelson, Nketiah, Marquinhos
COYG!
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