How Arsenal could line up against Aston Villa

Arsenal have been handed no fresh injury concerns ahead of their Premier League meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday, but there could be changes to the side which drew to Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

After failing to live with the trickery of Leroy Sane at the Emirates, Jakub Kiwior was replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko at half time in North London, with the Poland international unlikely to retain his spot at left-back.

Although the Ukrainian is a viable option on the left of the backline, Mikel Arteta could include Takehiro Tomiyasu from the start in preparation for the Gunners' second-leg clash at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

An injury scare in the 3-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion did not prevent Gabriel from playing the full 90 minutes against Thomas Tuchel's crop in the week, and the 26-year-old is expected to partner William Saliba at centre-back once again.

Moving into the engine room, there is an argument for a touch of rotation considering the magnitude of the match in Bavaria on Wednesday, but key men Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice will keep their places for a contest which is set to have massive ramifications on the Premier League title fight.

After impressing during Arsenal's most-recent league outing in North London, Emile Smith Rowe could offer a more attacking presence compared to Jorginho in the middle of the park for the hosts, or perhaps Thomas Partey could be included to provide a solid base from which to build.

Focusing on the front three, both Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard grabbed goal contributions off the bench versus Bayern on Tuesday, but as the former continues to struggle with pain in his knee, we do not envisage the former Manchester City ace demoting either Gabriel Martinelli or Kai Havertz to the bench.

Bukayo Saka was in the goals and the controversy at the Emirates against the Bundesliga champions, with the 22-year-old looking to net his 15th Premier League strike of the season when Villa come to North London this weekend.

Arsenal possible starting lineup: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Saka, Martinelli, Havertz