Arsene Wenger has made one big call and that is to rest Giroud in place of Oxlade-Chamberlain. I am a tad surprised that Alexis starts another game but I guess that is what happens when you are a key player. I suppose after a long injury it makes sense not to over run Giroud so soon.
Wow, didn't see that one coming. Arsene has rotated the team today but the big surprise is the selection of both Danny Welbeck and Oliver Giroud. It's even more of a surprise given that Alexis is one of the wide players. You'd imagine that Aaron Ramsey will be playing a rather disciplined role deeper today. Especially as we don't have the distribution of Mikel Arteta available. Both Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have been rested to the bench.
Koscielny is back in the squad but not in the first team just yet. He takes his place on the Arsenal bench with forgotten men Tomas Rosicky, Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell. Yaya Sanogo claims his first start since Danny Welbeck signed at the end of the transfer window. Welbeck is not in the squad at all.
As mentioned this morning, Arsenal have reverted back to a 4-1-4-1 system. Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are likely to play just ahead of Mikel Arteta unless Arsene goes with the 4-2-3-1 which is probably unlikely. It is a shame to move Alexis away from the central position he played so well in but against a side of the quality of Manchester United the idea was always going to be to try and wrestle control of the game.
Aaron Ramsey is back in the starting 11 following a bout of sickness that ruled him out of our 3-0 victory over Burnley on the weekend. Mathieu Flamini is the fella to miss out. I wondered if Arsène would rotate a little more to the team but he has kept the rest of the team the same as he looks to keep the momentum of the side.
Arsene Wenger has stuck with the side that beat Sunderland at the Stadium of light last weekend. Mikel Arteta had spoken of the move to 4-4-2 to accommodate Alexis in a central role and we are likely to see a repeat of that this afternoon. I had thought that perhaps we could see Aaron Ramsey come back into the team given the opposition and venue, a chance to start on the front foot but Arsene has gone for a more cautious foundation of Arteta and Flamini, giving the base for Alexis to work his magic further up the pitch.
So Theo Walcott makes the Arsenal bench but there are more pressing changes that the team will have to deal with. Arsene Wenger is protecting Aaron Ramsey from playing two games in four days after injury, so the Welshman is on the bench. Mikel Arteta comes back into the side in the Welshman's place. Monreal continues at centre back with Chambers at right back. Oxlade-Chamberlain comes back into the starting 11 after missing out in midweek.
The back line changes for the umteenth time tonight. Calum Chambers comes back into the team. We were not quite sure which position he would play but we now have it confirmed that Monreal will be starting which means a dropping to the bench for Bellerin. Mathieu Flamini keeps his place in the side ahead of Mikel Arteta who waits for his chance from the bench.
The rest of the team is as you would expect with the injuries we have. The one shock is that one Aaron Ramsey has taken his place on the bench. He seems to be back a lot sooner than we thought. Perhaps Shad is spreading magic. I doubt we'll even see him on the pitch today but having him back is a massive boost. Let's hope he finds his form quickly and kicks us on.
As I mentioned pre match, Arsene was likely to revert back to the 4141 which I imagine was designed for these big games. Jack Wilshere comes into the middle of the pitch to add some much needed bite so I expect Mesut Özil to move wide left. Alexis Sanchez should play from the right flank trying to support Danny Welbeck. The system has been inconsistent so far so let us hope now is the time where it pays off.