ARSENAL will be desperate to get back to winning ways in their Europa League encounter against PSV Eindhoven tonight.
And Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has named a strong starting line up with Granit Xhaka, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli in his XI.
But the Dutch giants haven’t lost at home since a disappointing 1-0 defeat in the Champions League play off to Rangers, way back in August.
- Kick-off: 5.45pm
- TV channel: BT Sport 2
- Live stream: BT Sport website
- PSV XI: Benitez; Mwene, Ramalho, Branthwaite, Max; Veerman, Sangare, Gutierrez; Simons, El Ghazi, Gakpo
- Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, Holding, Saliba, Tierney; Odegaard, Lokonga, Xhaka; Vieira, Nketiah, Martinelli
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
Follow ALL of the latest updates below…
Arsenal subs:
31. Hein, 4. White, 17. Cedric, 6. Gabriel, 5. Partey, 72. Smith, 44. Cirjan, 89. Ibrahim, 24. Nelson, 7. Saka, 9. Jesus
Arsenal starting XI:
The Gunners make five changes from the side that drew with Southampton in the Premier League on the weekend,
1. Ramsdale, 18. Tomiyasu, 16. Holding, 12. Saliba, 3. Tierney, 8. Odegaard, 23. Lokonga, 34. Xhaka, 21. Viera, 14. Nketiah, 11. Martinelli
Credit: @Arsenal PSV subs:
2. Hoever, 3. Teze, 4. Obispo, 8. van Ginkel, 9. de Jong, 10. Madueke, 16. Drommel, 17. Mauro Júnior, 20. Til, 24. Waterman, 27. Bakayoko, 37. Ledezma
PSV starting XI:
van Nistelrooy makes several changes for the visit of Arsenal with his side knowing that nothing but victory will give them an outside chance of still winning Group A.
1. Benitez, 29. Mwene, 5. Ramalho, 22. Branthwaite, 31. Max, 23. Veerman, 6. Sangare, 15. Gutierrez, 7. Simons, 21. El Ghazi, 11. Gakpo
Credit: @PSV Gunners looking to address form
Arsenal have failed to win on their last two visits to the Philips Stadion.
PSV have been strong at home all season.
Arteta will need to make it third time lucky in Eindhoven.
Boss talks about rotation
Mikel Arteta was asked about picking strong teams in the Europa League matches:
We don’t have that many players! We bring the players that we have and we have brought four kids with us so we cannot even make up the squad, but we need to put 11 players out and they need to play – we cannot change those 11 players every game.
Mikel Arteta
Top spot even more coveted
The eight group winners qualify immediately for the ‘round of 16’.
Each group runner-up will play against a third-placed team from a Champions League group in the knockout round play-offs.
The eight winners of those ties will then be drawn against a group winner in the ‘round of 16’.
Arteta wanting to get the job done
The Gunners have the chance this evening to cement their place at the top of the group with a game to spare.
Just a point will guarantee top-spot for the North London side.
The new format of the Europa League incentivises finishing in first place.
Welcome to PSV vs Arsenal
Arsenal head to the Netherlands to face PSV Eindhoven knowing that they only need a point to secure top spot in Europa League Group A with a game to spare.
The Gunners hold a five-point lead over second placed PSV, who could be left to battle for second place if they have a bad result here tonight.
PSV received a number of fitness boosts with Noni Madueke, Mauro Junior and Luuk de Jong all passed fit although the latter may need to be eased back into action more.
It is unlikely Madueke will start after he spent a number of months out with an ankle injury.
van Nistelrooy is still without Yorbe Vertessen (muscle), Ismael Saibari (muscle), Kjell Peersman (back) and Olivier Boscagli (knee) for the visit of The Gunners.
Marco van Ginkel is fit again after a hamstring issue.
As for Arsenal, Mohamed Elneny and Emile Smith-Rowe are still sidelined with their hamstring and groin issues respectively.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Marquinhos (illness) both missed training on Wednesday and the latter will definitely miss tonight.
Matt Turner, Kieran Tierney, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Viera and Rob Holding are all expected to feature this evening.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
