Arsenal will play hosts to Qarabag at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night having already secured qualification into the next round of the UEFA Europa League. The Gunners are unbeaten in their last 21 matches in all competitions and would come into this encounter full of confidence following a hard-fought 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town last weekend.
The North London giants are yet to taste defeat in Europe this season, and Unai Emery would hope that this midweek clash against Qarabag won’t be any exception even if he chooses to make a whole host of changes to his side to rest some of his first-team stars for the busy Christmas period.
Emery is expected to stick with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and might give some minutes to the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock.
4-2-3-1 Arsenal Predicted Lineup To Face Qarabag
Defence
Petr Cech will start in goal for the Gunners on Thursday night as Bernd Leno should be handed a well-deserved rest following his heavy involvement over the past few weeks. The central-half duo of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny might feature at the heart of the Gunners defence for this upcoming European match against Qarabag.
Carl Jenkinson could be asked to put in a shift at right-back while Ainsley Maitland-Niles would look to use his pace on the other side of the Gunners backline. Arsenal have a great chance to extend their remarkable unbeaten run to 22 matches across all competitions, but they need to keep things tight defensively in order to achieve the same.
Midfield
Emery might opt for the midfield duo of Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny who would both look to impress and establish Arsenal’s dominance at the centre of the park.
The promising trio of Emile Smith Rowe, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Joe Willock might start ahead of them as part of Emery’s attack in midweek. Smith Rowe has impressed a lot of people with his performances at the Emirates Stadium this season so this would serve as another great opportunity for him to showcase his talents at a high-profile stage.
Attack
Eddie Nketiah might play as a solo striking option up top for the home side. The English youngster is expected to lead the Arsenal attack as Emery is likely to rest both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette on Thursday night.
