Unai Emery did not shy away from potentially controversial decisions in naming his Arsenal side to face Liverpool at Anfield.
Alexandre Lacazette was dropped to the bench to make room for record signing Nicolas Pepe. Granit Xhaka was preferred to Lucas Torreira in a four man midfield that meant Emery opted against adding another body to his midfield even though that meant eschewing a three man defence.
Equally notable was the absence of Mesut Ozil, the German playmaker who did not travel to Anfield for the Gunners' crucial away game.
football.london understands that Ozil has trained normally since returning from a bout of illness last week. After missing the visit of Burnley to the Emirates Stadium Emery said he had no doubts over the 30-year-old's mental readiness to feature.
Ozil had missed the trip to Newcastle United on the opening day following what Arsenal termed "further security incidents" involving him and Sead Kolasinac. The pair had been involved in an attempted carjacking in Golders Green, north London, earlier in the summer.
Discussing Ozil in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Anfield Emery said: "I think he needs to be fit and also he is training as normal with the team.
"I think this is the first way to achieve that fitness. After that, to help us with his capacity."
Ozil made 35 appearances for Arsenal last season, 28 of them as a starter, scoring six goals and providing three assists.
