Arsenal predicted starting XI to face Crystal Palace as Mikel Arteta makes 4 changes

Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday night when they face Crystal Palace at home, with both teams looking ahead to games they will view as far more important. The Gunners have a Champions League semi-final first leg date with PSG in less than a week, while Palace have an FA Cup semi-final this weekend.

There are big questions over whether Arteta will rest players for this one, with Palace boss Oliver Glasner making it clear that he will rest at least a couple. Arsenal do have a little longer to recover, though, and Arteta has said: “Yeah, we have more days. The amount of options that we have is not that many, especially because of where some of the players are coming and the amount of minutes that they can play. But it's good to have a little gap because we are really short in numbers.”

Here we take a look at a possible starting XI for the Gunners.

GK - David Raya

It’s unlikely Arteta will give Neto a rare appearance here, with Raya likely to keep his place.

RB - Jurrien Timber

Timber could well come in for White here given the English defender’s injury issues that point to him being a bigger risk than most heading into two huge Champions League games that will demand a lot.

CB - Jakub Kiwior

Kiwior has played well lately, and he will likely keep his place, with Arteta surely wanting him to stay in rhythm and form.

CB - William Saliba

Saliba is the first-choice centre-back, and Arteta will likely want to see this centre-back pairing stay in rhythm.

LB - Oleksandr Zinchenko

Zinchenko did little wrong last time out and he should be confident of keeping his place here.

CDM - Thomas Partey

Arteta would be wise to rest Declan Rice given there will be a bigger workload on the Englishman in that first leg, with Partey suspended and Jorginho not likely available. Partey is a free hit here because of the fact he is suspended in the first leg, and you could Argue Arsenal are not going to win that semi-final without Rice, so it would be a bold move not to rest him. There is an argument that suggests Arteta should experiment given he won’t have Partey for the PSG game, but at the risk of injury? Arsenal should do their experimentation in training.

CM - Myles Lewis-Skelly

There is also a real case to be made for resting Merino, who has already had a long year after reaching the final - and winning - Euro 2024. Merino has played out position, in position and racked up plenty of minutes this term. It would be wise to rest him here. Lewis-Skelly is more than competent in the midfield.

CM - Martin Odegaard

In an ideal world, Arteta would like to rest Odegaard, but he can’t realistically rest all three midfielders. If Odegaard does start, you can expect him to be off by the hour-mark at the latest.

LW - Gabriel Martinelli

Martinelli one of the players who relies heavily on form and rhythm, so Arteta would be wise to start the Brazilian here in a bid to keep him firing on all cylinders.

RW - Ethan Nwaneri

Arteta has received stick for injuries this season, and while he has suggested he might still start Saka despite him coming into this one with a knock, it would be borderline idiotic for him to do so less than a week from the PSG game, risking the winger in a game that effectively means nothing. Saka should be given the time he needs to recover.

CF - Leandro Trossard

Trossard played very well against Ipswich and he should keep his place here. In truth, Arsenal just don’t have the options to rotate here.

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