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With PSG on the horizon in the Champions League, Mikel Arteta has to decide who plays and who doesn't against Crystal Palace.
Arsenal is through to the Champions League semi-finals against PSG, and it is because of that, Mikel Arteta and the coaching staff will have to seriously think about a host of things in the lead-up to their clash against Crystal Palace.
In the quarter-finals of the Champions League, after Arsenal's 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg, we saw exactly where Arteta's focus was in the following league game sandwiched in between the two legs with a host of stars being relegated to the bench against Brentford.
Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Mikel Merino all were push back to the bench as the Gunners clearly put a priority on the Champions League.
Now, Arteta must think about how he sets his team up ahead of the Crystal Palace clash midweek.
Why? Because just six days later, Arsenal will host PSG in the first leg of its semi-final clash, so Arteta might choose to rotate his squad again with an eye on PSG.
Will Arteta rotate vs. Palace with PSG coming into view?
Given that Saka was on the receiving end of a nasty tackle against Ipswich, he could be one player who Arteta rests, so too Martin Odegaard and others so that the Gunners are fully fit for PSG.
That's what we think anyway, but will Mikel rotate heavily vs. Palace?
"We have to somehow put 11 players out there and have four or five changes," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "Let's see how they recover in the next few days. The good thing is they are willing to play because they like the rhythm as well. We are so used to that rhythm every three days that the boys are demanding and then we don't have a game on the weekend. We have a gap there, so let's see how we get there on Wednesday."
So, as expected, Arteta is keeping his cards close to his chest.
Saka looms as the obvious one to at least be moved to the bench and if Arteta needs him, he will call on him, but as far as others go? That is the balancing act Arteta must undertake.
There is a nice gap between Palace and PSG so rotation might not be at the forefront of his mind, but for us, we think it might be.
The Champions League is the only competition the Gunners can win and giving yourself the best chance at beating PSG might be to rest key players ahead of what is looming as a monumental game at the Emirates in the first leg.