Arsenal fell 2-0 on Saturday night in the Premier League, shockingly to Bournemouth. But they have to turn their attention to European action right away, as on Tuesday, October 22, they will play Shakhtar Donestk at home to put their undefeated record to the test.
For their second straight Champions League game, Mikel Arteta’s team will host the Emirates Stadium. They will aim to repeat their performance from the previous game, when they defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 with what was maybe their greatest showing of the year.
David Raya, the goalkeeper, will start the match against Shakhtar Donetsk. The Spaniard has stopped two goals in as many games—against PSG and Atalanta—and has not yet been broken in the competition.
Defenders: William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will be at the center of Arsenal’s defense. There is no way Arteta will decide to rest the Frenchman in Europe because he will be suspended against Liverpool this coming weekend.
Ben White will start at right back for Arsenal while Riccardo Calafiori will start on the left side of defense since Jurrien Timber is still out injured from his match against PSG a few weeks ago. There is no indication that Timber will be returning for the Shakhtar encounter.
Declan Rice and Mikel Merino might form a double pivot with Thomas Partey sliding out to the bench, with Saka and Jesus expected to start as midfielders. With Martin Odegaard still sidelined, Kai Havertz could start at number ten and seek to build on his stellar scoring streak at the Emirates on Tuesday.
Bukayo Saka will play in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk for Arsenal, who are looking to avoid losing to both teams in quick succession after missing the loss to Bournemouth. Since the Englishman’s injury is not too serious, he should be able to start the game against the Ukrainian team on the right wing for at least some of it.
Leandro Trossard, who was just a substitute this past weekend after returning from international service with a knock, is expected to start on the left wing ahead of Gabriel Martinelli.
Gabriel Jesus, a forward, may be trusted to start at the front of the line on Tuesday after coming off the bench against Bournemouth.