Arsenal head into the new season as favourites to dislodge Manchester City as Premier League champions, having fallen just short last season, and will be hoping to begin their campaign by laying down a marker against Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium.
The two sides meet on Saturday lunchtime and the Gunners will be out for revenge, with defeat against Forest last season confirming that they could not win the Premier League after spending much of the season top of the pile.
Having strengthened significantly over the summer, they have a strong squad for Mikel Arteta to choose from, and we can expect more rotation throughout the season.
Here’s how we expect them to line up for the season-opener, and the latest injury news from north London.
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Predicted XI
Team News
Mikel Arteta remains without Gabriel Jesus after the Brazilian underwent an operation on his knee that is expected to keep him out for a month, and could see Eddie Nketiah handed a start in the season’s curtain-raiser.
Meanwhile, Oleksandr Zinchenko is yet to feature for the Gunners since injury ruled him out of the final few games of last season, and though he is back in training he is likely to be among the substitutes.
Leandro Trossard’s good form could see him pushing for a starting berth come Saturday lunchtime, but the Belgian has regularly been a substitute option since his arrival in January.
Mohamed Elneny and Folarin Balogun have both returned to training after injuries of their own, but it is unclear whether they will feature in the matchday squad with the latter still expected to depart permanently this summer. The same can be said for returning loanees Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi-Lokonga, though at this point no departure is close.
One new option could be David Raya, who is expected to complete his loan move to the Emirates Stadium in the coming hours and who could be registered in time to be among the substitutes.
