Arsenal take on Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Prince this evening in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
The Gunners head into the game trailing 1-0 after losing the first leg at the Emirates Stadium last week. Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring in the 4th minute and it took Arsenal 25 minutes to recovery from that early set-back. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli both had excellent chances to equalise but were denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma so PSG take a slender lead into tonight’s pivotal second leg.
Mikel Arteta has been handed a double injury boost with Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino both passed fit after missing Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League. The pair sat out the loss at the weekend with knocks but trained on Tuesday and both start tonight.
Timber comes in for Ben White at right-back while Jakub Kiwior continues to partner William Saliba in the absence of the injured Gabriel Magalhaes – who’s out for the rest of the season following hamstring surgery. Myles Lewis-Skelly keeps his place at left-back with Riccardo Calafiori back on the bench after recovering from a knee problem.
Thomas Partey – who missed the first leg against PSG due to suspension – starts in midfield for Arsenal alongside Declan Rice. Martin Odegaard captains the Gunners once again and Arteta will be hoping for a big performance from his skipper this evening.
Bukayo Saka keeps his place on the right wing and he’ll be a key player for Arsenal as they look to score at least once tonight. Gabriel Martinelli starts on the opposite flank with Merino returning to lead the line up front.
Leandro Trossard drops to the bench where he’s joined by Jorginho with the Italian back from a rib injury.
As for PSG, Dembele is only deemed fit enough to start on the bench after picking up a hamstring issue last week. Bradley Barcola comes in to the attack.
Here are the confirmed line-ups:
PSG
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; João Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Barcola, Doué, Kvaratskhelia
Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Hernandez, Beraldo, Mayulu, Zaire-Emery, Tape, Kang-in Lee, Mbaye, Dembele, Ramos
Arsenal
Raya Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Merino.
Subs: Neto, Setford, White, Calafiori, Tierney, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Henry-Francis, Nwaneri, Butler-Oyedeji, Trossard, Sterling.
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