Arsenal will conclude their preparations ahead of the Premier League restart with a friendly against Juventus on Saturday evening....CONTINUE READING
So far, the Gunners have been beaten by Watford in a behind-closed-doors meeting at London Colney before following that up with wins over Lyon and AC Milan to clinch the Dubai Super Cup. Now back on home soil after some warm-weather training, attentions shift to the visit of the Serie A giants to the Emirates Stadium.
It’s Arsenal’s final warm-up fixture before they return to Premier League action against West Ham United on Boxing Day, thus providing Mikel Arteta with a chance to hand some minutes to a number of his returning World Cup stars as well as, potentially, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Emile Smith Rowe after injury.
Now, for the midweek win over AC Milan, Thomas Partey and Ben White made their first post-World Cup appearances. In fact, of the 10 Gunners players who were in Qatar for the tournament, only one remains in William Saliba and he’ll certainly not be available for selection against Juventus.
Of course, Gabriel Jesus won’t play a part either after undergoing knee surgery at the beginning of the month, the game might come too soon for Zinchenko – although he should be fit in time to face West Ham – and Emile Smith Rowe who has only just returned to training after groin surgery in September.
With all that considered, Arteta won’t be able to name what many supporters view as his strongest Arsenal line-up for the club’s final friendly ahead of Premier League season 2.0. But, there are some alterations that the Spanish tactician might be taking under consideration from the last outing against AC Milan.
As a result, football.london takes a look at the changes Arteta could make to either his starting XI or matchday squad as Arsenal face Juventus on Saturday evening.
Ramsdale and Turner share minutes
Matt Turner arrived in Dubai to take part in training last Sunday following the USA’s elimination from the World Cup at the round of 16 stage. The goalkeeper was even spotted in the stands during the win over Milan and should be in contention to get some minutes at the weekend.
Although, it might be a case that he gets one half and Aaron Ramsdale gets the other. As reported by football.london following England’s quarter-final exit it was unclear yet when the Arsenal No. 1 would join up with the camp as the club planned to consult with the Three Lions before deciding a plan.
The fact that Ramsdale didn’t play a single minute in Qatar could be the deciding factor as Arteta will want his goalkeeper to be sharp ahead of the West Ham fixture nine days later and a 45-minute runout would do the trick.
Tomiyasu, Xhaka and Martinelli return
In a boost for Arsenal, football.london reported that Takehiro Tomiyasu, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli were due back in training this week after the trio were eliminated in the World Cup round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively, and subsequently given some time off after participating in the tournament.
None featured in the win over AC Milan – Xhaka was in the stands alongside Zinchenko – so all signs point towards them being involved at some stage against Juventus whether that be as starters or as substitutes.
Saka dilemma
Just like with Ramsdale, Arsenal had planned to consult with England before deciding how to reintegrate Bukayo Saka. But unlike his Three Lions teammate, the winger featured heavily in Qatar as he started four of the five games, including the 2-1 loss against France last weekend.
