Molde vs Arsenal Predicted Lineup: Will Nicolas Pepe Start?

Arsenal travel to Norway to face Molde FK on Thursday.

While the Premier League fixtures are cause for dread and despair, Europa League matches are reason for our collective interest to pique. Here we are, at Arsenal, looking forward to second tier European matches over top-flight English ones.

That may not be true for all, and there is still butterflies in the stomach for league action as we wait for the game where everything clicks into gear, but this season the Europa League has been a very, very welcome distraction.

Watching Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson strut their stuff with freedom and domination is a far cry from watching Willian hit a corner straight to the first man or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang touch the ball three times per game.

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Seeing an average of three goals per match, these fixtures can be enjoyed mostly stress-free. Coming into Thursday within touching distance of qualification, it’d be nice to see the players wrap up the group so Under-23 prospects can get a better run out in the competition.

Who starts in Norway, then?

Injuries and absentees make this no easy selection decision for Mikel Arteta, although given his hands are tied, perhaps it is. What everyone wants to know, though, is will Nicolas Pepe start?

Arteta’s iron fist has struck before with members of his squad whose actions were deemed unacceptable, so how heavy his ruling on this one is sure to dominate the build-up. I firmly believe he has to play against Molde. Arteta has his own opinions, however.

Here’s the predicted lineup for Thursday’s Europa League group stage clash.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Bernd Leno (GK) – Given qualification isn’t quite assured, it looks like being Leno in goal once more. In what looks set to be the toughest fixture of the group, Alex Runarsson will be benched with a view to playing him for the remaining to group matches, should Arsenal win here.

Cedric Soares (RB) – It was great to see Hector Bellerin get a run out for the national squad but that makes him another player in need of resting. Not that it matters, since Cedric is Arsenal’s certified spare tyre in this department. I don’t think he’s as bad as everyone makes him out to be, in truth.

David Luiz (CB) – Missed the weekend draw with Leeds due to his partner giving birth to a baby girl – congratulations David! Was he going to play in that game anyway? Probably not with Rob Holding favoured over his better defensive discipline. David Luiz will see plenty of the ball on Thursday.

Shkodran Mustafi (CB) – This looks set to be Shkodran Mustafi‘s competition for just a few more weeks at the most. With Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers both nearing their full returns from long-term injuries, Mustafi will have to prove himself worthy of a place.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles (LB) – Needs must. Sead Kolasinac is likely to miss out on a trip to the Aker Stadion having tested positive for COVID-19, while Kieran Tierney needs time off more than any other player. Despite playing left-back, Maitland-Niles will operate as an auxiliary winger.

Midfielders

Joe Willock (CM) – Didn’t have the best of games in his first Premier League appearance of the season, yet who did? Willock will come back into the Europa League team to do precisely what earned him a starting berth against Leeds on Sunday: plenty of progressive ball carries – which he didn’t do enough of at Elland Road – and surges into the opposition box.

Dani Ceballos (CM) – It’s a toss up between Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka. With victory in Arteta’s sights, he may opt for Ceballos as the deepest-lying midfielder as he’s played previously, with Xhaka coming on later to shore things up if Arsenal have a lead. Thomas Partey may be back, but if he does feature it’ll more likely be from the bench.

Emile Smith Rowe (CM) – No ifs, buts, or maybes, Emile Smith Rowe has to start in Norway. The only reason he hasn’t played in the Europa League so far has been fitness and injury-related, but now he’s playing regularly for the Under-23s he should come straight into the side.

Training injury-free, he’s scored three goals in his last 116 minutes of Premier League 2 action for Steve Bould‘s side.

Forwards

Eddie Nketiah (LW) – Arteta tried this at Rapid Vienna and it was a complete failure. The link-up between Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette was nonexistent, with Nketiah totally lost out on the wing and the Frenchman’s frequency dropping deep leaving nobody in the box.

All that said, the situation is as such with injuries that it may be forced. If Maitland-Niles can push high down the left, a front four could be formed with Smith Rowe and Willock sitting just off of them in the pockets. Works in theory, at least.

Alexandre Lacazette (ST) – This decision comes down to whether Arteta persists with Aubameyang through the middle. I’m of the belief that we’ll see it more often moving forward, which means Lacazette could get the nod on Thursday in an attacking setup similar to the opening group game in Austria.

He really needs a goal.

Nicolas Pepe (RW) – Initially, I steered clear of this call. Arteta, very firm in his beliefs, could well have dropped the Ivorian. However, as he said post-Aston Villa, in the best scenario, Arsenal would have been playing the following day so they could amend for their failings.

The same should apply to the squad, right? Pepe’s actions at Elland Road were inexcusable, but four days later he has the chance to rectify that idiocy. Dropping him from the team does nobody any favours. His confidence is shot as it is, it’d be foolish to diminish it further.

If injuries weren’t as they were he might have been made to do with a spot on the bench.