Arsenal predicted line-up vs. Sheffield United: Two major changes made as £45m star misses out

Arsenal will be hoping to avoid an upset with an assured display when they face Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners left it late to rescue a point against Chelsea last Saturday, scoring two goals in the last 13 minutes to salvage an improbable point at Stamford Bridge.

Since then, Mikel Arteta’s men have got their Champions League campaign back on track with an admirable win over Sevilla in Spain. Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were enought to secure a 2-1 victory, and to take the North Londoners back to the top of their qualification group.

For their part, Sheffield United are still yet to win a top flight match this season, but put in a spirited display against Manchester United on Saturday night, and will be hoping to kickstart their ailing campaign with an unlikely shock at the Emirates. But how will both sides line up this weekend? We’ve taken a closer look at the latest team news below...

Arsenal Team News

Arsenal’s injury list is relatively short, but they could still be without a handful of influential players this weekend. Arguably the biggest concern is Gabriel Jesus, who scored one and assisted another in Spain in midweek, but who was also forced to withdraw from the action shortly after with an apparent hamstring complaint. Speaking about his injury after the win over Sevilla, the Brazilian himself said: “I felt something. Let’s see. I did some tests with the physio, it looks not that big, but let’s see. I have a scan, maybe tomorrow. I’m pretty sure it will be nothing.” Whether the issue is enough to rule him out of Saturday’s clash remains to be seen.

Elsewhere, Thomas Partey missed out on Wednesday’s European trip entirely due to an unspecified muscle complaint. Addressing his absence, Arteta said: “Thomas picked up an injury yesterday in training. Unfortunately, it’s a muscle injury. We don’t know the extent of it - a big miss for us.” Much like Jesus, only time will tell as to how long this latest problem keeps the Ghanian sidelined.

Arsenal’s only other notable worry is Jurrien Timber, who suffered a horrendous knee injury on the opening weekend, and who is expected to be out for the foreseeable future as a result.

Arsenal Predicted XI

David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Jorginho, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard; Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka.

Sheffield United Team News

Sheffield United are in the midst of something of an injury crisis at the present moment in time, and could be missing as many as 13 names heading into the weekend; against Manchester United last time out, their bench was comprised of four players from their academy and three who were only just returning from injury.

Such is the scale of the problem facing manager Paul Heckingbottom, who could be without striker Oli McBurnie in North London after the Scotland international limped off six minutes into the second half against the Red Devils last Saturday. The 27-year-old joins a whole raft of absentees, including key defenders Chris Basham, John Egan, and Anel Ahmedhodzic.

Elsewhere, Tom Davies, George Baldock, and Max Lowe are also doubts, along with several others.

Sheffield United Predicted XI

Wes Foderingham; Jayden Bogle, Auston Trusty, Jack Robinson, Luke Thomas; James McAtee, Oliver Norwood, Vinicius Souza, Gustavo Hamer; Cameron Archer, Benie Traore.