Arsenal vs Leeds predicted XI: Bring out the dead!

Arsenal have some key returns from the injury list to alleviate the stresses Mikel Arteta might have been facing. Here is how they’ll line up vs Leeds.

Arsenal‘s fortunes are changing. New year, new club. While they might struggle to compete in the January transfer window, with it unclear what kinds of funds will be available, they are coming off a monumental clean sheet at home against Manchester United, they have a man in charge who clearly understands pretty much everything and right in time, they’re starting to get healthier.

While Calum Chambers will tragically be out for quite some time and Kieran Tierney still has a ways to go, we’re seeing guys like Dani Ceballos and Rob Holding return after considerable injury lay-offs, and that can only mean good things ahead.

In particular, I’m excited to see how Arteta gets the most out of Ceballos. And this FA Cup fixture against Leeds will be our first opportunity to see that. Hopefully.

We’ll likely still be without Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin, but other than that and some needed rest days for our regular starters, there’s a stable of options available for Arteta to choose from, and there’s plenty to be excited about there.

For starters, we’re likely going to see Mikel Arteta stick to a 4-2-3-1. I was about to call it a 4-3-3, but the difference is just a couple of yards, so it’s not like there’s a benefit to differentiating.

It’s unlikely we’ll see guys like Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, as they have been working double time through the holiday period, but that opens the door up to some excellent alternatives, particularly in the attack, but also in the midfield, where we will probably be missing Granit Xhaka and potentially Lucas Torreira as well, also because of needed rest.

And so, without further ado, let’s dig into the starting XI that Mikel Arteta is likely going to opt for against Leeds. We start in goal.

Keeper

Emiliano Martinez will be happy to get back onto the pitch. He didn’t see a lot of action in the holiday period because of it being exclusively Premier League, but we’ll be needing him here.

On to the defense.