Arsenal are back in action this afternoon as they travel to Birmingham to take on Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The Gunners had won five league matches in a row before Wednesday evening's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool, with goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino making Martin Odegaard rue his earlier miss. However, the result didn't change to much as the north London outfit still sit fourth in the standings, one point ahead of Manchester United.
Mikel Arteta's side will need to dust themselves off quickly before they travel to Villa Park and the Spaniard has since voiced his frustrations with the quick turnaround in their recent fixtures. Speaking about their upcoming matches, Arteta said: "Thank you so much to the Premier League for doing that.
READ MORE: Alan Smith reveals the one Arsenal player who has lost his pace ahead of Aston Villa clash
"And they've done it again when we have to play Chelsea and Manchester United. So if they want to give them any advantage, I say to them today: 'Thank you so much for doing that'.
"It is always it's BT, it's Sky, it is this, it's that. But the one that is affected is Arsenal and the only thing that I care [about] and we care [about] is Arsenal.
"And for Arsenal it is not fair.” The Spaniard has now named his starting line-up for the match against Steven Gerrard and Co, with Emile Smith Rowe replacing Gabriel Martinelli on the left flank whilst Bernd Leno comes in for goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal fans took to social media to voice their opinions on the starting XI. Here is what a select few on Twitter said.
@Afc_Mxth: "I won't be negative here but I still have a bad feeling today. Could imagine our players are so tired now after we're playing the 3rd game in 6 days"
@AFCMartineIIi: "Interesting…..????"
@VinnieKay22: "NO RAMS. NOOOOOOOOOO."
@cynicalarsenal: "hahahahaha end season."
Confirmed starting XI: Leno, Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Xhaka, Partey, Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Lacazette.
