There’s no need to stress how important this game is. It is a very big for us the fans, for our season, for Arteta and for the players. European football next season depends on this game we have to go out the with a strong team and win there should be no excuse. Everything that went wrong this season, our position in the Premier League etc will all be forgotten if we are crowned Europa League champions at the end of the season. Arteta has a big task at hand going up against the competition’s favourite Unia Emery. The former Arsenal boss will want to have on over us off course and will not want to lose to a rookie that took his place.

Team selection has to be on point. We are lucky to have some of our main players back from injury setbacks. Arteta has to field a well balanced squad to get the results we want today. Players like Aubameyang need to play a part as well as Odegaard and Lacazette. This is not a game for Nketiah or an experiment for Balogun.

STARTING 11

Goalkeeper:
Bernd Leno has been a liability this season. He has made a lot of mistakes but thats due to the fact that he has no real competition and is feeling very confident in his position. Regardless of that he is still our number one and should be the one to start this game.

Defence:
Cedric should be by default our starting right back, but Arteta seem to like the stability that Chambers bring in the position. He’s calm and composed and does put in good crosses. I expect him to start over Cedric and Bellerin at right back. Even though Luiz is back from injury I expect Arteta to go with the same pairing of Holding and Mari and give Luiz minutes on Sunday when we play Newcastle. Kieran Tierney is back and is going right into action. We need to restore our balance in this position and if Kieran is not 100% ready to start I would prefer moving Saka to left back.

Midfield:
With Tierney or Saka playing at left back its time we reunite Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey in central midfield. We look much better with both in there considering the weight of the game and the opposition we are playing. In the number 10 role I will bring back Odegaard. I just feel like he’s the type of player that can open up a defense with his passing and vision. Even though Smith Rowe has been great his quality is different from what Odegaard offers and in this game we need both one starting the game and one finishing it off.

Attack:
First off all everything here depends on what happens at left back. If Saka is deployed at left back Pepe and Smith Rowe will occupy the wings, but if not then it should be Saka and Smith Rowe. All three players are on good form, particularly Pepe. But starting him will mean we will have no quality to come in to impact the game from the bench apart from Martinelli. So I will go with Saka on the right, Smith Rowe on the left and Alexandre Lacazette through the middle.

Subs:
I expect Aubameyang, Pepe and Martinelli to off the bench and make a positive impact. If we are wining the game comfortably Arteta might bring on Elneny and remove one of the attacking midfielders to see the game out.