Arsenal face Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie tonight, with Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard and Kieran Tierney all absent from the squad.
Midfielder Mohamed Elneny is also out of the trip to Portugal with a knee injury, while Gabriel Jesus has returned to training but is not involved tonight.
Nketiah and Trossard’s absences mean that Gabriel Martinelli leads the line, with Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson getting the nod either side of him.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner comes in for Aaron Ramsdale, while Oleksandr Zinchenko starts again in the absence of Tierney through illness.
Jorginho replaces Thomas Partey at the base of midfield and Granit Xhaka plays after being rested against Bournemouth.
Martinelli revealed that Fabio Vieira was meant to be at Wednesday’s press conference instead of him, though was ill. Arsenal later clarified that the midfielder had made the trip but was dealing with a sore throat, however he is fit to start.
Arsenal XI: Turner; White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko; Vieira, Jorginho, Xhaka; Saka, Martinelli, Nelson
Subs: Ramsdale, Hillson, Partey, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Holding, Tomiyasu, Bandeira, Sagoe Jr, Smith, Walters
Thursday 5.45pm GMT, BT Sport
Venue: Estádio José Alvalade
