This next weekend, Arsenal will host Leicester City at Emirates Stadium in their Premier League return.

After a thrilling 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Sunday, the Gunners bounced back on Wednesday with a 5-1 Carabao Cup third round victory over Bolton Wanderers. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has a lot of decisions to make before Saturday’s match against Leicester, but his team is expected to win.

Who Arteta decides to start in goal against Leicester is an intriguing question, given that Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino are among the midfielders who have been ruled out due to injury. After scoring twice against Bolton, Ethan Nwaneri is being touted as a potential starter for the Premier League, but whether Kai Havertz will start at striker or slightly deeper is still up in the air.

Truelove, SamSince Martin Odegaard’s terrible injury while playing for Norway in the international tournament, Arsenal have been devoid of a certain creative flare. Although Leandro Trossard is an adequate player, he is at his best when playing on the left wing, and the Gunners failed to generate many opportunities in their matches against Tottenham and Atalanta.

So, going into the match versus Leicester, I’d start Ethan Nwaneri. I think the 17-year-old deserves to shine given that the club has hidden him for so long. His quality has been around for a while, and he is a fixture in Arsenal’s first team setup. Edu allowed Fabio Vieira to go on loan in the summer in part because of Nwaneri; the adolescent is an ideal alternative for Odegaard.

I would start Thomas Partey and Declan Rice alongside Nwaneri. Neither of them deserved to be benched after their outstanding displays against Manchester City. Leicester will try to counter with players like Jamie Vardy by sitting deep, but Partey and Rice have the quality and experience to dominate the midfield and win the game.

Because of this, I believe Kai Havertz will be starting up front again. Against Bolton, Gabriel Jesus was insufficient, but Havertz’s statistics are remarkable as he advances. If you think Arsenal won’t score first, you’re wrong. Nwaneri and Havertz will score together.

Yak KaynakIn recent weeks, Arsenal’s midfield strategy has required a great deal of discipline. However, I believe they should loosen up a little before facing freshly promoted teams in back-to-back home Premier League games.

That being said, I’m going all out creatively and taking a chance on Ethan Nwaneri’s youth. Why not just dump him in here? He has never appeared out of place at any of the other levels he has encountered. I get that it’s not going to happen away to Spurs or City, but Leicester at home is a whole other story.

An apparent choice to go with him is Declan Rice. If we want him to get forward like he did against Bolton, I think he’d be more suited to the left eight position. Having him in the six-pack limits that, in my opinion.

So, for the part of the deeper lying midfielder, I’m going with Thomas Partey. The Ghanaian and Jorginho are essentially neck and neck, but I prefer him because of the extra athleticism he provides to the counterattack.

William LeeEthan Nwaneri, what a grand entrance you made to the footballing world. Not only is he famous among Arsenal supporters, but he has also likely attracted the attention of the other teams’ fans, especially Leicester.

When compared to Bolton Wanderers, the Foxes are a whole other ballgame. Would you consider starting him for a Premier League game now? I’m uncertain. However, Mikel Arteta may not have much of a choice given his choices.

If the situation arises, I would start Nwaneri on the bench and start Kai Havertz or Leandro Trossard in the offensive midfield.

With a front four consisting of Bukayo Saka, Trossard, Havertz, and Gabriel Jesus, as well as movable parts to fill out the other four slots, you have a lot of leeway to play as Thomas Partey alongside the renegade Declan Rice.