Bellerin starts as Emery makes 10 changes | Expected Arsenal line-up vs Liege

Arsenal take on Standard Liege in the Europa League at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night. Here is the side Gooner Mac thinks Unai Emery will select for the game:

Goalkeeper: Emi Martinez will be recalled and he’ll be looking to celebrate his call-up to the Argentinean squad with another positive performance between the sticks. Bernd Leno will get a rest.

Defence: Emery is expected to freshen things up after we played a tough game at Manchester United on Monday night. Sokratis, David Luiz, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac could all be given a breather after starting at Old Trafford.

The Arsenal boss confirmed today that Kieran Tierney will start against Liege after not being risked against United due to a ‘small problem’ while Hector Bellerin is also set to feature as he continues to build-up his match fitness. Ainsley Maitland-Niles is also an option at right-back but he may have to settle for a place on the bench.

Rob Holding was perhaps unfortunate not to start against United but he’ll get another chance to impress on Thursday night while Shkodran Mustafi could come in to make a rare appearance in the middle of defence.

Midfield: Emery fielded a fairly strong team against Eintracht Frankfurt in our opening Europa League game with Granit Xhaka playing that night but I think he’ll be given a rest ahead of Sunday’s clash with Bournemouth.

Matteo Guendouzi should also be given a breather but Lucas Torreira may keep his place – although he should be deployed in a more familiar defensive midfield role after playing further forward at Old Trafford.

Joe Willock should be recalled to start against Standard Liege while Dani Ceballos is also in-line for a start after being named on the bench against Man Utd on Monday.

Attack: Arsenal will continue to be without Alexandre Lacazette as he’s still nursing an ankle injury so I hope we see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rested. He started in Frankfurt but it would be a big risk to play him tomorrow and expect him to start three games in six days as we’ll definitely need him fit against Bournemouth on Sunday.

Nicolas Pepe struggled against United and he’s going to take some time to settle. This could actually be a good game for him and I would be happy to see him start to build his confidence but have a feeling he’ll be rested along with Bukayo Saka.

Mesut Ozil could come back into the side after not being involved against United while Reiss Nelson should get another run out on the right. Gabriel Martinelli is likely to start up front after scoring a brace against Nottingham Forest last week.

Here is how I think we’ll see Arsenal line-up: