Arsenal’s 18-Man Squad Announced: Szczesny ‘Rested’, Podolski Out

Arsenal travel to Germany on Tuesday afternoon for Wednesday nights Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena and we have the squad news.

As announced on Arsenal.com, boss Arsene Wenger has had to make four changes to the squad that lost to Tottenham and we’ve travelled without midfielder Jack Wilshere – who has been ruled out for 3 weeks with an ankle injury – while forward Lukas Podolski misses the chance to play against his former side after picking up an ankle problem.

Abou Diaby and Andrey Arshavin come in to replace Wilshere and Podolski but the French midfielder will face a late fitness test to see if he’s in contention to start.

Wenger has also taken the controversial decision to ‘rest’ number one goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with Lukasz Fabianski returning to the squad in his place. Nacho Monreal is ineligible but Kieran Gibbs returns after missing the last six weeks with a thigh strain.

The losses of Wilshere and Podolski are real blows, especially since we have to score at least three goals to stand a chance of progressing to the last eight. It looks like Aaron Ramsey and Tomas Rosicky will have to step up in the duo’s absence, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may also be pushing for a recall.

The decision to leave Szczesny behind is certainly an interesting one. Leaving your first choice keeper at home in favour of Fabianski – who’s not played a first team game in about a year – tells us one of two things. Either Wenger has already given up on the tie with Bayern or he’s given up on Szczesny. Neither is particularly good news.

So the 18-man squad is:

Fabianski, Mannone, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Coquelin, Ramsey, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud, Gervinho, Arshavin

What would be your preferred starting eleven for the match? Leave your suggestions below.