Arsenal v Cologne preview and possible lineups

Tom Smith 6 years ago 5.2k
Giroud is expected to start for the Gunners. AFP

Arsenal will get their Europa League campaign underway with a home clash against Cologne on Thursday evening, having failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.

The Gunners are expected to rest a number of key players for the opening Group H opener.

Alexandre Lacazette, Danny Welbeck, Granit Xhaka, Laurent Koscielny and Petr Cech all missed Wednesday morning's training, despite all being match fit.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed heavy squad rotation will take place as he wants to focus more on mounting a serious Premier League title push.

'Jack Wilshere is a fighter and I've not given up on him' - Wenger is expected to hand Wilshere his first Arsenal start in 13 months.

Alexis is also in contention for a place in the starting XI as Wenger aims to improve his talisman's fitness.

Cologne finished in an impressive fifth position in the Bundesliga last season, but have made a terrible start to the new campaign, losing all three games so far.

One positive, however, is that Peter Stoger has a fully fit team to choose from.

Possible lineups:

Arsenal: Ospina, Holding, Mertesacker, Mustafi, Walcott, Wilshere, Elneny, Kolasinac, Iwobi, Sanchez, Giroud

Cologne: Horn, Klunter, Sorensen, Heintz, Hector, Hoger, Lehmann, Zoller, Bittencourt, Osako, Cordoba

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Europa League