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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rich Jones

Arsenal confirm squad for Vitoria clash with Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka left out

Arsenal have left out Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka for their trip to Guimaraes to take on Vitoria in the Europa League on Wednesday.

Under-fire manager Unai Emery has named an 18-man travelling squad to head to Portugal with neither Ozil or Xhaka included.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Luiz have also been left out, although it is unclear if the pair are being rested or have picked up an injury at this stage.

Xhaka has not featured since reacting angrily to being booed by fans when substituted against Crystal Palace , appearing to tell fans to "f*** off" as he left the field.

Ozil, meanwhile, impressed when handed a long-awaited recall against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup last week but struggled to make an impact against Wolves at the weekend.

Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil have both been left out of Arsenal's trip to Portugal (Stuart MacFarlane)

There are no other major surprises in the squad, with youngsters Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Bukayo Saka all included having been involved in first team action this season.

Gabriel Martinelli is also expected to start after an impressive run in the Europa League so far this season, scoring three goals in their last two games in the competition.

Vitoria provided a tough test for Arsenal in their last outing, but Nicolas Pepe came off the bench to strike two late free-kicks to snatch three points and remain in the driving seat in Group F.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also not made the trip (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

The game in Portugal has been moved to a 3:50pm kick-off and is not taking place on the traditional Thursday slot reserved for Europa League action.

The move comes due to the close proximity of Guimaraes to Braga, who are hosting Besiktas in the competition on Thursday night, and police restrictions on the sides playing home games at the same time.

The unorthodox kick-off time comes with UEFA not allowing the game to clash with Champions League action.

Arsenal squad : Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney, Sokratis, Dani Ceballos, Alexandre Lacazette, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Nicolas Pepe, Shkodran Mustafi, Reiss Nelson, Emiliano Martinez, Joe Willock, Matteo Guendouzi, Sead Kolasinac, Bukayo Saka.

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