William Saliba has waited since the summer for his first game of the season, and Hull City at the Emirates on Saturday, with the international break straight after, is the right afternoon to give it to him.
Kick-off is at 3pm UK time on Saturday 7 November. Arsenal go into the last game before the break top of the Premier League, and a win would make it nine victories from the opening ten league games.
Mikel Arteta made six changes for the 2-1 win over Slavia Prague on Wednesday, so most of the side that won at Anfield last weekend is rested and ready. The questions are at centre-back, in midfield and up front, where Viktor Gyökeres has just given Kai Havertz something to think about.
Bukayo Saka is still out with the quad injury he picked up against Bayern Munich, and Max Dowman serves the second game of his three-match domestic ban. Everything else is selection, and the full injury picture is in our Arsenal injury news before Hull City.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Hull City
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Hull City (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Ødegaard, Tzolis; Gyökeres.
That is five changes from Prague. Jurriën Timber, Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Ødegaard and Christos Tzolis come in, while Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapié, Mikel Merino and Eberechi Eze drop out. It is also two changes from the Anfield side, with Saliba and Martín Zubimendi in for Konsa and Bruno Guimarães, and Gyökeres keeping the shirt ahead of Havertz.
Is Saliba ready to start?
David Raya: the easy one
David Raya made the save of the night in Prague, getting his fingertips to a shot and pushing it onto the post, and Arteta said afterwards that his goalkeeper “had to show his quality again.” There is no debate here.
Jurriën Timber: back on the right
Timber started at Anfield and only played the last 12 minutes on Wednesday, when he struggled a little with the crosses coming down his side. White was lively going forward in Prague, but Timber is the fresher man and started the last league game.
William Saliba: the comeback starts here
Saliba has not played this season. He made a back injury worse on France duty at the World Cup in the summer, chose not to have surgery, played 45 minutes of a behind-closed-doors friendly last week and returned to full training on Tuesday. He travelled to Prague and sat on the bench all night.
Arteta was clear before that trip. “He’s in a really good place,” he said. “His evolution has been as expected, which is not always the case. He feels really comfortable. He played 45 minutes behind closed doors last week. He feels ready to go.” We covered why the club went down the no-surgery route with Saliba earlier this week.
Plenty of people expect Cristhian Mosquera to get the nod, and that would be the safe call. But Konsa came off after 62 minutes on Wednesday with what Arteta called “some issues”, and he explained: “Obviously he’s playing a lot. He’s played so many games in the last few weeks.” With two weeks off after this game, a home match against Hull is the lowest-risk place Saliba will find to get his first minutes.
Gabriel: the constant
Gabriel cleared two shots off the line within a few seconds of each other in the second half in Prague. He will play again, and he is the ideal partner for a centre-back coming back from a long lay-off.
Riccardo Calafiori: rested and ready
Calafiori shook off a hip and rib concern to play the full game at Anfield, then sat out Wednesday on the bench. Hincapié faded badly after the break in Prague, so Calafiori returns. If Arteta wants to protect him, Myles Lewis-Skelly is the natural alternative.
Who partners Rice?
Martín Zubimendi: earned it in Prague
This is where we go against the grain. Guimarães started at Anfield, and most will expect him back. But Zubimendi won eight of his ten duels on a rare start on Wednesday and was the best midfielder on the pitch, as our Arsenal player ratings from Prague showed. Form like that should be rewarded, and Guimarães can come on to help close the game out.
Declan Rice: still the engine
Rice played the full 90 minutes in Prague and looked tired late on, which is why some fans would rest him. We wouldn’t. The international break is a few days away, he wore the armband on Wednesday, and two weeks without a club game is rest enough.
Gyökeres or Havertz up front?
Noni Madueke: no reason to drop him
With Saka out, the right wing belongs to Noni Madueke. He opened the scoring after nine minutes on Wednesday, held off his man and put the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs, then ran the Slavia defence ragged until he came off in stoppage time.
Martin Ødegaard: back in the number 10 role
Ødegaard started at Anfield and had a lively 12-minute cameo in Prague. Merino worked hard on Wednesday but missed two big first-half chances and tired after the break, so the number 10 role goes back to the Norwegian.
Christos Tzolis: the Anfield choice
Tzolis started on the left at Liverpool and came off the bench for the last half-hour in Prague. Eze was full of confidence on Wednesday and is the closest call in the side, but he played just over an hour three days earlier, and he is the better option to change the game from the bench.
Viktor Gyökeres: form wins it
Havertz scored the only goal at Anfield, so leaving him out is not easy. But Gyökeres was the best player on the pitch in Prague, with a goal and an assist, and he now has eight goal involvements (five goals and three assists) in his last ten starts in all competitions. His link play is getting better with every game, and a home game against Hull is exactly the kind of opponent a striker in this mood should be facing.
What about Hull?
Hull City have problems of their own. Sergej Jakirovic is without Matt Crooks, who is suspended after his fifth booking of the season, and Eliot Matazo, Matt Targett, Darko Gyabi, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Charlie Hughes and Ilyas Ansah are all expected to miss out. Jack Butland played 90 minutes for the under-21s on Monday, but Konstantinos Tzolakis has done enough in goal to keep his place.
Arteta faces the press on Friday, and the Konsa update will be the one to watch. If the defender is fine, the temptation will be to stick with what won at Anfield. We still think this is the day to bring Saliba back.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Hull City (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Ødegaard, Tzolis; Gyökeres.
