Arsenal have the chance to give themselves a four-point cushion of safety in the Premier League top four with a win against Leeds United.
Following the postponements of every other league fixture on Saturday, Arsenal and Leeds will be the sole match that goes ahead.
As a result, after moving into the top four following their 2-0 win over West Ham United on Wednesday, Arsenal now have the chance to create some breathing room for themselves if they can get a victory over Leeds United.
For Arsenal there is probably never going to be a better time to play Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, they are in the midst of a horrific injury crisis and have just come off the back of a 7-0 hiding against Premier League holders Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta has surprised absolutely no one by naming an unchanged starting xi for this evening’s game, having found a settled and in form xi who he feels he can rely on at the moment.
Arsenal have also confirmed that summer signing Sambi Lokonga is missing the game completely after returning a positive Covid-19 test result.
Former club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang remains frozen out of the squad following the disciplinary action Arteta felt was necessary to implement on the Gabon striker.
Nevertheless it has generated some debate among the Arsenal fandom. Although the main interest seems to be around a seemingly new player Arsenal have in their lineup called ‘Party’ rather than Thomas Partey.
We will know if it’s a ‘party’ for Arsenal by the time the full time whistle goes.
You can see some of the reaction below.
Lads , y'all can't spell PARTEY pic.twitter.com/ivMsGTdrul
— ????? ?? (@HaleEndFinesse) December 18, 2021
Bielsa pulling a random person to start for Leeds against Arsenalpic.twitter.com/lBp6wSM43u
— P™ (@SemperFiArsenal) December 18, 2021
Massive game vs Leeds today. Time to start improving our away form. Nothing but this mood is expected: pic.twitter.com/6Ocd7nK3DH
— William ? (@AFCWilliam__) December 18, 2021
Honestly fine with not rushing ESR back from injury with Odegaard finally in the form we have expected. Makes for a great super sub too
— Stephen A. Smith Burner’s Burner (@TheSASBurner) December 18, 2021
Why is ESR not starting..Arteta u can't turn him into a game changing sub..He's an a world-class starter for crying out loud..Just win
— WHITE & GABRIEL (@joshiano3) December 18, 2021
Leave him in Yorkshire if we don’t get 3 points
— OrganisedMessFC (@BrutallyGooner) December 18, 2021
Damn, Areta is sticking with this team like.. pic.twitter.com/GSqniXZ2Sd
— Fredii ????? (@Udfredii) December 18, 2021
Kick off for the game is at 5:30pm.