Arsenal entertain Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Emirates Stadium tonight.
The Gunners registered a convincing 3-0 Premier League win over Fulham last weekend with three first-half goals.
The Cottagers could not cope with Arsenal’s intensity, and the Gunners should have scored more goals in the derby.
The victory has proved vital after Manchester City dropped points in a high-scoring 3-3 draw at Everton last night.
Arsenal are now five points ahead of the Cityzens at the top of the league. Pep Guardiola’s side have just one game in hand.
This should be a huge mental boost for the Gunners ahead of tonight’s encounter against Atletico.
Arsenal played out a 1-1 draw at Atletico in the first leg and have the chance to reach their second Champions League final.
Ahead of the game, Arteta could make at least three changes to the starting XI from the Fulham win.
Piero Hincapie starts
Riccardo Calafiori made his long-awaited injury comeback against Marco Silva’s side. The Italian was fantastic from the left-back position, making several overlapping runs. An offside decision denied him a brilliant goal, and he also hit the woodwork.
Still, the former Bologna man could make way for Piero Hincapie. The Ecuadorian is undoubtedly the better defensive solution and put in a good shift at the Wanda Metropolitano. He could play for an hour before Calafiori is introduced off the bench.
Martin Zubimendi returns
Myles Lewis-Skelly made a surprise start in the heart of the midfield against the Cottagers. The Arsenal graduate completed an impressive 97 percent of his passes and barely put a foot wrong. His performance was described as ‘incredible‘ by the manager.
Despite this, we fully anticipate Martin Zubimendi to be reinstated in the centre of the park alongside Declan Rice. The Spaniard may have a more cautious playing style compared to Lewis-Skelly, but Arteta could bank on his big-game experience against Atletico from his La Liga days.
Martin Odegaard in XI
Martin Odegaard has been a regular in the starting XI for the Gunners when available for selection. The Norwegian star suffered another minor knee issue at the Wanda Metropolitano that contributed to his absence against Fulham at the Emirates last weekend.
The club captain’s creativity could be key to unlocking Atletico’s stubborn backline, particularly on the counter-attack with his quality distribution. The £30 million signing looks poised to start from the number 10 role, which could see Eberechi Eze move to the left wing ahead of Leandro Trossard.
Stats from Sofascore
