Arsenal: Arteta’s selection dilemma for AFC Wimbledon

The 1-0 win over Burnley on Saturday was a thing of beauty – and not in the usual way. Instead of the glitz and glamour that has accompanied Arsenal teams of the past, they showed incredible grit and determination to see off a spirited Burnley side.

For the entire 90 minutes, the Arsenal players put their bodies on the line for the cause and dealt well with whatever the Clarets threw at them. They stood up to the physicality, were assured aerially for the barrage of long balls into the box and weren’t overawed by a ravenous Burnley crowd.

With so much effort put in by the players to get a positive result, the next question comes for Mikel Arteta and his coaching department: how many players does he rest for the midweek EFL Cup third round match against AFC Wimbledon?

In years gone by, Arsenal has often used the EFL Cup and to a lesser extent the FA Cup to rest and rotate. This was largely because at the time the Gunners were playing in Europe. They aren’t now.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal selection dilemma for AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Cup as a decision needs to be made on rotation over Premier League momentum

Arteta does not have to worry about midweek European games taking all the energy out of his squad, so how heavily will he rotate?

The argument can be made that given the back four he fielded against Burnley has not played together much at all, Wednesday’s game could be another chance to develop the cohesion needed to be a effective ensemble in the Premier League.

Arsenal could effectively use the cup game midweek as a European game and give his players the chance to go again and to build on the last two results to try and improve the squad momentum ahead of the crunch clash against Tottenham. It would be similar to what he did against West Brom.

Having another game to get used to each other’s playnig styles and to build on the communication, especially for Gabriel and Ben White, could prove vital in the long run and could fast-track the relationship between the two.

Given that Arsenal are heavy favorites for the midweek clash regardless of who takes the field, resting players could hinder the good work that has been made in the last two weeks. Against Burnley, Arteta fielded his strongest XI and his ideal formation and it got a positive result, albeit just.

Going with a very similar group as on Saturday could be what Arteta decides to do against Wimbledon as he looks to keep his team’s winning streak going to build vital momentum. He hasn’t been one for heavy rotation in domestic cups. The downside would be should a player pick up an injury, then that would be disastrous for the North London Derby, and that there are others in need of minutes.

The likes of Thomas Partey in particular are unlikely to feature as he is simply too important to the side to risk him in a cup game. However, if Arteta wanted to, then there could be a couple of changes to the starting XI against the Dons to give some fringe players some time on the turf.

Players like Alexandre Lacazette, Folarin Balogun Gabriel Martinelli, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Nuno Tavares and Calum Chambers could be in line for starts as all have not seen much action of late. Coming up against a League One side who is currently in seventh place in the table could be just the tune-up for the rest of the squad.

Ultimately, it is decisions like this where Arteta earns his paycheck, and it is highly unlikely that we will see several stars on Wednesday as he will surely have one eye on his next Premier League clash against Spurs. No game should be taken for granted, but this is as good of an opportunity as he’ll get to blood some Under-23 stars and hand those on the periphery vital run outs.

There is a slightly different feel surrounding the club of late and putting a team in the lower echelons of the football pyramid to the sword would be the perfect build-up for the North London Derby.