Arsenal are travelling to the Liberty Stadium for their Premier League fixture against Swansea City on Tuesday. The Gunners are on a good run of 2 wins in a row, one against Crystal Palace which ended 4-1 and the second against Chelsea for their EFL League Cup Second Leg.
However, both the matches were at home and Arsene Wenger’s away record this season has been far from impressive. They are currently 9th in the league in away fixtures having registered just 13 points in 12 away games so far.
The fans at Emirates have witnessed a season of highs and lows and after last season’s 6th place finish, they would like nothing better than to see their side beat Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur to the 4th spot of the points table. They need to bridge the 5-point gap somehow and dropping points in this fixture is not an option.
The Swans put on a resilient display against Liverpool to win 1-0 last weekend. They rode their luck sometimes but definitely deserved the victory and it worked out perfectly for the bottom-placed club. Festering at the end of the pile for some time now, City are ready to push their way out of the relegation zone and will be motivated to give Arsenal another fight.
Wenger is expected to field his men in the 4-3-3 formation.
Defence
David Ospina holds the tag of the ‘Cup Keeper’ and is expected to get the nod ahead of Petr Cech in between the sticks.
Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi are expected to pair up in the centre-back position. Koscielny has been in form this season but is still is the senior most figure in the defence behind Per Mertesacker.
Hector Bellerin should get featured at the right back position with Sead Kolasinac on the left. The Bosnian has lost his first team spot to a poor bout of form but might be given the nod in this fixture.
Midfield
Jack Wilshere has been the best player for Arsenal in recent weeks and is expected to pair up with Granit Xhaka around the centre circle. The duo will have to operate behind Aaron Ramsey who is expected to fill out the attacking midfield role.
Attack
Olivier Giroud is still on the sidelines tending to his wounds and Alexandre Lacazette will have to start in the number nine role. He finally ended his 7-match goal drought by smashing in a low hung effort against Palace. He was impressive against Chelsea and got himself an assist.
Mesut Ozil is the predicted starter on the right wing with Alex Iwobi on the left.
