With Arsenal only needing a point to seal qualification to the Europa League knockout stages, a trip to Guimaraes on Wednesday offers head coach Unai Emery the perfect opportunity to shuffle his pack.
He will do so knowing that what could be a defining game in his Arsenal tenure looms large on the horizon. The Gunners will travel to Leicester on Saturday knowing that defeat would leave them nine points off their top four rivals.
As such it seems inevitable that Emery will take a squad packed with fringe players and youngsters to Portugal. The likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Luiz were left out of the Carabao Cup squad that were knocked out by Liverpool last week and have been left behind again.
Aubameyang's absence should open the door for Gabriel Martinelli to continue his rich vein of form having scored seven goals in seven games since joining Arsenal. The likes of Bukayo Saka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles could also feature whilst Reiss Nelson has also been named in the squad after featuring for the Under-23s last week.
Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil and Calum Chambers have all been left out, while Emile Smith Rowe misses out with a calf complaint.
Meanwhile in defence the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Emiliano Martinez should step in. There remains a possibility that Hector Bellerin may finally be deemed ready for a Premier League start, but with Calum Chambers rested, it appears that the Spaniard will again start at right-back in the Europa League.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Martinez; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac; Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Willock; Pepe, Saka, Martinelli
