Arsenal travel to San Siro on Thursday to face AC Milan in the Europa League Round of 16 first leg, hoping to arrest their terrible form.
Arsenal’s visit to AC Milan might not have come at the right time considering the Gunners’ current form, which has seen Arsene Wenger’s team lose four games in a row. AC Milan, on the other hand, are on a great run of form, unbeaten in the last six games in all competitions.
The big news ahead of this game is Hector Bellerin won’t be available, as the Spanish right-back has an inflammation in his left knee, but Arsene Wenger allayed fears of a long-term problem in his pre-match press conference, suggesting the Spaniard could return for the second leg encounter.
“He is injured – he has an inflammation of his left knee, without ligament damage. He had a scan yesterday, which was quite good. It showed inflammation. He tried [to train] today but he needs some further investigation.”
“He was in hospital this afternoon to know why he is in so much pain. But it doesn’t look a long-term problem. He tried, he went out but couldn’t absorb the training session so we had to leave him behind.”
The absence of Bellerin could force Wenger to deploy Calum Chambers yet again at right-back, having played the defender in the position against Brighton over the weekend. David Ospina is expected to continue in goal, as he has done all season in the Europa League.
Alongside Chambers in a strong back-four, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny and Sead Kolasinac are expected to start, considering the magnitude of the tie.
Nacho Monreal is yet to return from the back injury he sustained in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, but Wenger confirmed that the Spaniard had a light session on Wednesday alongside an update on Alexandre Lacazette.
“Apart from that, of course Lacazette is not ready and we had to leave Monreal behind because he is not ready. He started a little session today only, but he is not ready.”
Up ahead in midfield, Aaron Ramsey was rested at the weekend and could be in line for a start in this crucial encounter. The in-form Granit Xhaka should partner him. Jack Wilshere, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil are set to form the attacking triad behind the striker.
Danny Welbeck should lead the line once again for Arsenal in Europe. Welbeck may not be a natural choice for Wenger, but the injury absence of Alexandre Lacazette and the ineligibility of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will see Welbeck play the central striker role.
