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Ozil & Sanchez out: My Arsenal XI to face Basel

By on December 5, 2016

aaron ramsey arsenal

Arsenal are in Switzerland ahead of our final Champions League group stage match against Basel on Tuesday night.

We have virtually no chance of securing top spot as PSG just need to beat Ludogorets at home to finish first and we all saw how poor the Bulgarians are after we thrashed them 6-0 at the Emirates, so for me our Basel game is practically a dead rubber.

Arsene Wenger still needs to field a competitive team as you just never know what could happen in France but I’d personally be resting a couple of key men.

This is the team I’d like to see Arsene go with….

Goalkeeper: Ospina

Ospina is our European keeper for this season so he’ll take the gloves again tomorrow night.

Defence: Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny, Gibbs

Bellerin is back in training after recovering from an ankle injury but he isn’t available for selection yet while Debuchy is also facing an extended spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Gabriel did a reasonable job filling in at right-back against West Ham and I’d like to see him keep his place against Stoke at the weekend so therefore Jenkinson should come in to start against Basel.

I would usually be tempted to rest one of Mustafi or Koscielny but given Gabriel’s new importance at right-back, we may need to risk our starting centre-backs.

Midfield: Elneny, Xhaka

Coquelin misses out through suspension so there will be at least one change in midfield and Elneny is expected to come back in to the side to face his former club.

I thought Xhaka was excellent against the Hammers on Saturday so hopefully Wenger is ready to give him an extended run in the side with Cazorla facing 2-3 months on the sidelines.

Attack: Walcott, Ramsey, The Ox

I think Ozil should be given a rest for this one and give Ramsey another chance to impress in his preferred advanced midfield role. Walcott wasn’t at his best against West Ham but he should keep his place out on the right.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was excellent at the weekend, particularly in the second half when he scored a superb goal and grabbed an assist, so he deserves to keep his place in attack.

Striker: Giroud

Giroud returned to full training after recovering from a groin injury that kept him out of the last two games and I think he needs to start up front and give Sanchez a well-earned rest.

The Chilean was outstanding against West Ham and ordinarily we should keep a player in the side when he’s in red-hot form, but this game is virtually pointless so why take a risk on him getting injured?

This would be my line-up: