Unai Emery has named a strong Arsenal starting lineup to face Liverpool with Nicolas Pepe making his first start while Alexandre Lacazette is on the bench.
Arsenal have taken a strong squad for their Premier League trip to face Liverpool. Unai Emery has made a series of changes to his lineup from the win over Burnley. Nicolas Pepe is among those making their first start, while Emery retains his entire defence from the last game.
The manager has tweaked his formation from a 4-3-3 to what now looks like a 4-4-2. Bernd Leno starts between the posts. He’s got support in defence from Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right-back, while Emery has retained Nacho Monreal at left-back. David Luiz and Sokratis form the central defensive partnership.
? NICOLAS PEPE STARTS ?
? Here's our team news for #LIVARS…
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 24, 2019
Joe Willock, Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos all start and maintain their places from the last game. The only addition to midfield is Granit Xhaka who returns from a minor back problem that saw him miss the Burnley clash. With the Swiss midfielder’s addition, Arsenal looks to be fielding a four-man unit in the centre.
Surprisingly Emery has benched Alexandre Lacazette who scored in the last game. Reiss Nelson drops to the bench as Emery fields two forwards upfront in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Pepe.
There is no place for Mesut Ozil in the matchday squad. The Arsenal bench, however, is a sharp-looking one with Emiliano Martinez, Calum Chambers, Sead Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Nelson, and Lacazette.
