Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Leicester City: key change made from Man City as eight players out or doubts

Title contenders Arsenal will be firm favourites to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season this Saturday when they welcome newly-promoted Leicester City to the Emirates – but manager Mikel Arteta still has some serious injury issues to worry about.

No fewer than eight players are either out or doubts for the weekend, including first-choice goalkeeper David Raya and club captain Martin Ødegaard, and it isn’t yet clear whether any of those eight are the mystery player who suffered a potentially serious injury according to Arteta, who said that they were waiting on the results of fitness tests for an unnamed player after the all-action 2-2 draw with Manchester City last Sunday.

While we can’t claim to know for sure whether that player was Raya, as many have speculated, we have brought together all of the latest team news, injury updates and predicted line-up for Arsenal below.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Spanish shot-stopper Raya was pictured with a bandaged knee after the draw at the Etihad and was left out of the squad for the midweek EFL Cup game against Bolton Wanderers, and has widely been speculated to be the player that Arteta hinted could have picked up a serious injury – after the Bolton match, all that Arteta told the media was that “we don’t know” how problematic his apparent muscle injury is. Neto seems likely to deputise against Leicester, at least.

In defence, Arsenal are expected to be without Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Kieran Tierney (hamstring), none of whom are believed to be close to a return, while there could be question marks over Ben White and Jurriën Timber – the former played through injury against Manchester City and was left out against Bolton, while the latter was also absent in midweek after being forced off with an apparent injury late on at the Etihad. The club have not provided a detailed update on either players’ fitness since.

Midfield

Arsenal will have to continue to make do without captain Ødegaard, who suffered ankle ligament damage while on international duty with Norway. The player himself has described himself as feeling “more positive every day” while Arteta said he would be back in “a matter of weeks”. No specific return date has been provided.

The Gunners will also have to get by without summer signing Mikel Merino, who suffered a shoulder injury in his first Arsenal training session and was put out for around two months as a result. Late October is the earliest he is likely to be back.

Forwards

Arsenal at least have a clean bill of health up front and can welcome Leandro Trossard back into the starting eleven despite his red card against Manchester City last weekend – that one-game suspension was officially served during the EFL Cup game against Bolton. Ethan Nwaneri, who starred in the 5-1 win on Wednesday with two goals, will likely have be back on the bench, but Raheem Sterling, who bagged his first Arsenal goal against Bolton, could push for a start.

Neto; Calafiori, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Partey, Rice, Havertz; Martinelli, Saka, Trossard.