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Arsene Wenger has stated that he will play a full-strength Arsenal side against Ostersunds in the Europa League on Thursday. That is absolutely the right call.
After a winter hiatus, the Europa League returns to the fore on Thursday, with Arsenal preparing to travel to Sweden to face FK Ostersunds in the first knockout round of the competition. It is, with all respect, a kind draw, one that the Gunners are expected to win fairly comfortably.
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However, that does not mean Ostersunds are a team to be underestimated, especially away from home. Arsenal have struggled greatly on their travels this season — they have just three away wins in the Premier League from 14 games, amassing just 13 points with a goal difference of -7 — and given that the first leg is at Ostersunds, if they are not careful, they could leave themselves with some work to do.
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It is good to hear, then, that Arsene Wenger is not taking it taking it lightly. When asked about his thinking regarding his team selection given that he has tended to rotate a blend of veteran reserves and prospective youth players into the competition thus far, Wenger, when asked about whether he will pick a strong team now that the top four seems beyond his team, stated that he cannot see a reason why he would rest players:
"“I would have anyway gone for it, especially as we have no game between the two matches. I will play the normal team because it is one of the opportunities we have especially because we don’t play in the FA Cup. There is no reason why I should rest players.”"
That aggressive thinking is certainly the right decision. First and foremost, the Europa League is a trophy that Arsenal should be looking to win. Just because it is not the Champions League does not mean that it should be devalued and overlooked. But more than that, it is now the most realistic path to next season’s Champions League.
If Chelsea beat West Brom on Monday night, then the gap to the top four will be eight points. That seems like too much for the Gunners to overhaul between now and the end of the year. But the Europa League offers a very real chance with the winners qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Additionally, as Wenger rightly highlights, with Arsenal now out of the FA Cup, they do not have a game next weekend. They will subsequently have a week’s rest between the two legs. Moreover, there are only three days between the second leg and the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. It makes sense to try and establish a lead in the first leg and then rest players in the second leg.
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It was never quite understood how Wenger would handle his squad with the Europa League. He has never been in the group stages of the competition. Up until this point, he has been willing to heavily rotate. Now, it seems as though he is shifting his priorities a little. He is very much right to.