Gabriel Jesus will start in a much-changed Arsenal starting lineup when they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Arsenal will be in a celebratory mood when they lock horns with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday evening. Mikel Arteta has no new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Mikel Merino and Jurrien Timber have been the only players the Spanish tactician has been worrying about ahead of his team’s final Premier League game. The latter is the only player on the sidelines for the newly-crowned champions.
On the other hand, Merino has resumed training and will go full throttle in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on the Spanish midfielder and Timber.
The Arsenal manager said, “Mikel is going to start to train with the group tomorrow. Today, he’s gone out a little bit, but it was just a reintegration. Jurrien, let’s hope that he can do the same [as Merino’s progress] in the next few days. He’s still a little bit further behind than Mikel at the moment.”
“We had 48 hours to enjoy the success of winning the league. Now, tomorrow and Saturday, we’re going to prepare really well because we need to now lift again our habits and the standards that we normally do things to be in the best possible way to compete.”
“On Sunday, we’ll have a little window there again to celebrate, to lift the trophy in a manner that deserves it, to connect with the people that we have constantly around us. But then we have six days that we need to write a new history in this football club.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Crystal Palace on Sunday. A heavily-rotated backline will feature Marli Salmon, Christian Norgaard, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Piero Hincapie.
As for the midfield unit, Martin Zubimendi will line up alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly in the double pivot, allowing Declan Rice some rest. Eberechi Eze will reprise the no. 10 role, with Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke being the two wide attackers. Finally, Gabriel Jesus will lead the line for the away side against Crystal Palace, with Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres getting a breather.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Salmon, Norgaard, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly; Madueke, Eze, Martinelli; Jesus
