Arsenal predicted lineup vs Watford: Sambi & Balogun starts?

Arsenal are in action on Wednesday as they take on Watford in a behind-closed-doors friendly at London Colney, another hastily arranged fixture to make up for the club having to cancel their trip to the USA.

Some Premier League opposition! Having played Hibernian and Rangers and then faced Championship Millwall, it’s fortunate for Arsenal that they have some neighbours who happen to be relatively decent at the game of football.

Given London Colney and Watford’s training ground are literally separated by a fence, there is probably a way of squeezing through a bush to make this the closest London derby in history. Sort of.

Busy working away in the transfer market to sign a goalkeeper, maybe a right-back, a central midfielder, an attacking midfielder and quite possibly a striker, the lack of travel needed for this game and the one prior means Mikel Arteta won’t be far from his office when Real Madrid call to say they’re accepting £20m for Martin Odegaard. We can hope.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Arsenal predicted lineup vs Watford for pre-season friendly with Folarin Balogun and Albert Sambi Lokonga in line for starts

Arsenal will extend a big thank you to Watford (who actually drew 1-1 with Stevenage yesterday and will balance their squad out evenly for this one), in a fixture that should make for a enjoyably competitive encounter.

Will we see a first start for Albert Sambi Lokonga? After an impressive first 45 minutes in an Arsenal shirt there will be plenty of fans eager to see him given the nod from the off. It could also be the same for Nuno Tavares who was on the bench against the Lions, in which case supporters may see two new signings in a starting lineup. What a time to be alive!

Most will get a run out for this one with crunch pre-season ties with Chelsea and Tottenham to come before the opening day of the season against Brentford, but it could be a different looking team from the one that beat Millwall 4-1.

There could be a first appearance of pre-season for Bernd Leno in goal and potentially another start up from for Folarin Balogun. So, who’s up for a predicted lineup for a behind-closed doors game? We all are.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Arthur Okonkwo (GK) – Given the nod from the start in all three of this pre-season’s fixtures, with Leno just returning from his holidays it looks like being another outing for Okonkwo in net. After his early blip he’s settled himself and looked vastly more comfortable against Millwall.

Cedric Soares (RB) – Like a few of the choices for this game, they may come down to who started last time out. Calum Chambers scored and assisted last Saturday and got more minutes than Cedric, so it could be roles reversed.

Rob Holding (CB) – The options are fairly slim in this department with William Saliba enjoying some sunshine in the south of France and, interestingly, Ben White completing the second part of his medical not far away from where the game is being played.

Pablo Mari (CB) – Again, slim pickings for this position with Gabriel out injured.

Kieran Tierney (LB) – Facing Premier League opposition, Arteta might favour bringing Tavares on later into proceedings and giving Tierney a run out from the off.