Confirmed Line Ups

Arsene has kept the faith with the side that beat Swansea 4-0 last weekend. Bellerin, Gibbs and Coquelin have all returned to the squad but all three are on the bench rather than forcing their way into the starting line up. I thought we may see both full backs come into the side but maybe that was expecting too much so soon

Going back to Maitland-Niles, he played right back against Notingham Forest earlier in the season and did a very good impression of Hector Bellerin in the way he played. He is quick and technically good but obviously you have to take into consideration the opposition but I am happy to see him given another go in that role. What that quite says about Carl Jenkinson I don't know. Maybe he is close to a loan move away somewhere so he has been held back or maybe the manager has lost faith in him which would be pretty sad.

So that is pretty much as what most expected right? Ramsey will be playing out wide and that was the one question mark I had before the line up. But I am very surprised to see Oxlade-Chamberlain not in the team this evening as he started from the bench on Sunday. I guess it was a choice between Ox and Giroud. If Arsene went for Alexis as our central striker then Ox would have replaced him on the left I guess. It's quite a front footed midfield and that will be intriguing to see.

Lucas Perez was a hot topic on the latest Arsenal Vision Post Match Podcast but the Spaniard has been granted a start today in a rather attacking looking front line, I suspect that Alex Iwobi will move to Ozil's position

A win though would be sweet as though wouldn’t it? We need to keep up our confidence before our trip to City on the weekend. We may well have to grind this one out a little as I expect the home side to be very defensive in their approach but hopefully we can keep Lukaku quiet and we can find a way through a couple of times during the 90 minutes. I'm picking Theo as a one to watch tonight, hopefully his goal and the return of Bellerin can help him go on another scoring run during an important part of the season

No Surprises with the starting line up. Apart from the returning Petr Cech, Arsene has gone with the same outfield players that has served him so well over the last few games. The only surprise is the absence of Lucas Perez on the Arsenal bench, his place has been filled with the Jeff.

I thought we would see Mathieu Debuchy as he was training but he is not even in the squad, maybe it's the last we see of him and he will move in January, unless he is injured. So Ainsley Maitland-Niles who was on loan at Ipswich Town last season will be given the chance to show what he can do. Xhaka and Elneny start as expected as does new boy Lucas Perez wearing his new shinny new number 9 shirt.

Theo Walcott comes back into the team on the right and Alex Iwobi keeps his place on the left, which I am pleased about. I'm not too worried about Alexis starting at centre forward as long as Theo Walcott makes runs into his spaces when he moves to the flank as he often does. Xhaka and Elneny and new boy Lucas Perez are on the bench, hopefully we can ease them in from a comfortable winning position *prays*

The new boys are both in the starting line up for today's match with Southampton at the Emirates, the surprise is that both Xhaka and Alexis take their places on the bench, I suppose that is just a consequence of the international football that has been on show in the last week. With Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lucas in our front three we have plenty of pace and mobility so it will be interesting to see how that gels together. Our bench also looks nice and strong so we have plenty options if need be.

Lets hope for three points and an entertaining Arsenal performance.