Having qualified for the knockout stages of UEFA Champions League already, Arsene Wenger will be eyeing for a top berth finish as Arsenal drop by at Turk Telekom Arena to play their final group stage fixture. Meanwhile, Galatasaray have nothing to lose as they are already out of the tournament.
The Emirates Stadium club will be devoid of Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil and Mikel Arteta whilst doubts hover over the fitness of David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, Theo Walcott, Serge Gnabry and Ignacio Monreal.
Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny haven’t boarded the plane that took the Arsenal roster to Turkey.
Arsene Wenger welcomed Wojciech Szczesny back into the team as the Pole was named amongst the substitutes at the Britannia Stadium.
Calum Chambers is seemingly unavailable for selection as Arsene Wenger opts to rest the English international ahead of Galatasaray game. Isaac Hayden and Hector Bellerin will presumably have a major role to play alongside the regulars in Per Mertesacker and Kieran Gibbs.
Though the inclusion of Mathieu Flamini would likely make the Gooners edgy, Arsenal are left without a choice for Mikel Arteta is out injured. Aaron Ramsey has been a subject of flaks lately but such hard feelings may well be forgotten, if he scores a goal that is half as stunning as his volley last Saturday.
There’s a big probability that Tomas Rosicky starts against the Turkish giants, thereby, offering much deserved time off to the first string players.
Lukas Podolski may finally be afforded a start benching Santi Cazorla in the process.
It wasn’t long ago that Olivier Giroud made his return from injury and legend has it that he would most likely not feature.
To make up for his absence, Yaya Sanogo may spearhead the Gunners’ line-up, given the inexplicable reluctance that Arsene Wenger has, to play 22-year-old Joel Campbell. Standard’s James Olley claims that Joel Campbell will finally be handed over a deserving start but Arsene Wenger will always have other ideas.
Though Arsenal’s chances of topping their group lies largely on their performance, they’ll have to hope that Anderlecht exploit the turmoil that surrounds Borussia Dortmund. Wins for Arsenal and Anderlecht would mean that Arsenal don’t have to play mighty opponents in Bayern Munich and the likes.
Arsene Wenger bawled his eyes out following the poor reception from away fans at Britannia Stadium. Now, he will want to answer his critics and settling for anything fewer than three points would only make things worse for Arsenal’s longest serving manager.
Expected line-up
Szczesny; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Chambers, Bellerin; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Flamini, Ramsey; Campbell, Sanogo, Podolski
