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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

'Good squad management!' - Arsenal fans back Mikel Arteta's bold decision against Aston Villa

Mikel Arteta's team selection for tonight's Premier League clash against Aston Villa has prompted a big reaction from Arsenal supporters.

It's the Spaniard's penultimate starting XI in the league this season and one that shows six changes from the team that started the 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City at the weekend.

Perhaps the biggest news is that Eddie Nketiah returns following his three-game ban as he replaces Nicolas Pepe in a very attack-minded line-up.

"They're very unlucky" - Mikel Arteta reveals his thoughts on Aston Villa ahead of Arsenal clash

Having secured back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Man City using a back three, it would appear that Arteta has reverted to a 4-3-3 system.

Cedric Soares and Sead Kolasinac are the full-backs with Rob Holding partnering David Luiz in the heart of defence.

In midfield there are recalls for Lucas Torreira and Bukayo Saka.

Saturday's hero at Wembley Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang keeps his place in attack as he looks to improve his chances of successive Golden Boot awards.

There's also another start for Alexandre Lacazette.

Arsenal XI: Martinez; Cedric, Holding, Luiz, Kolasinac; Torreira, Ceballos; Saka, Lacazette, Aubameyang; Nketiah

Most of the reaction from Gunners supporters on social media has centered around the bold line-up Arteta has gone with.

Take a look at some of the best responses on Twitter...

What Mikel Arteta has said:

"I wanted to get to this point with options and clearly we have options. It's not in our hands at the moment and we knew that was going to be very difficult but we are going to give it a go, try to win both games and wait [to see] what happens.

"If we do that I think we have a good chance."

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