Mikel Arteta to make four Arsenal changes vs Napoli as £34.5m star returns to XI - view
Arsenal begin their Champions League league phase with an away trip to Napoli on Wednesday.
The Gunners have had the perfect start to the campaign with four wins from as many matches.
They will now travel to Naples for their first European game of the season. Ahead of the clash, manager Mikel Arteta will no doubt contemplate a few changes to the starting XI.
The Gunners face Sunderland on the road in their next league game on Saturday evening. With a turnaround time of less than 72 hours, the manager could opt for some rotation.
In our view, Arteta could make at least four changes to the starting line-up against Napoli.
The first change could come in the left-back position. Riccardo Calafiori has started every match for the Gunners this term and has been scintillating to watch, with three goal contributions.
However, the Italian star could be replaced by Piero Hincapie, who joined the club permanently for £34.5 million this summer following a successful loan season from Bayer Leverkusen.
Arteta used Myles Lewis-Skelly as the regular left-back at the start of the league phase last term while managing Calafiori’s workload. We could see something similar with Hincapie.
It is well known that Declan Rice has been suffering from neutral hamstring pain this year, and we won’t be surprised if the English midfielder starts on the bench against Napoli in midweek.
Bruno Guimaraes was an unused substitute against Chelsea after his recent knock. The Brazilian star could occupy Rice’s role. Martin Zubimendi could likewise come in for Lewis-Skelly in the heart of the midfield.
The final change could be on the left wing with Eberechi Eze replacing Christos Tzolis. Tzolis had a poor outing at Aston Villa but redeemed himself against Chelsea with the match-winning assist.
The Greek played through the entire 90 minutes, just like Rice. It is a probable hint that he could be rotated on Wednesday with Eze, who has featured on the left flank in the early part of the season.
The Englishman was an unused substitute against the Blues despite contributing to the crucial winning goal at Villa after coming off the bench. He could make his first start of the new campaign.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
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