This Monday, Arsenal take on Crystal Palace in what is the Gunners' first away game of the new 2023/24 Premier League season.
Mikel Arteta's men picked up a 2-1 home win against Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend, while Roy Hodgson and co were also victorious as they beat Sheffield United 1-0 on the road.
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Ahead of the game, which takes place at Selhurst Park on Monday 21st August at 8pm (UK time), Football FanCast has decided to predict the starting lineup for the Gunners.
Who will start for Arsenal vs Crystal Palace?
There could be a change in goal this week as Arsenal have now completed a move for Brentford's David Raya, who arrives on a season-long loan with a £27m option to buy.
However, Aaron Ramsdale has been the undisputed number one for two seasons now (playing all 38 games last term) and so it would be a shock if he was to lose his spot in the starting lineup just yet.
In defence, however, Arteta will be forced into mixing things up as a result of the unfortunate ACL injury which could keep Jurrien Timber sidelines for most of the season
The defender started at left-back last weekend and the Gunners do at least have plenty of depth in that part of the field. Speaking to the press about Oleksandr Zinchenko who's been out with a calf injury, Arteta told football.london:
"Alex has been doing really well. He's been training with us and, hopefully, we're going to have him very, very soon."
With that in mind, we think he'll make it back in time to start this one, although Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior could also be called upon if the Ukraine star can't quite make it.
Gabriel Magalhaes was surprisingly dropped against Forest, but without Timber out, Arteta may want to revert to his usually trusted centre-back option, so we expect the Brazilian to come back in.
He should start alongside William Saliba and Ben White – which would mean playing the exact same back four which started away against Palace for the opening game last season.
Thomas Partey was used as an inverted right-back on the opening weekend, but with the potential return of Zinchenko, he can step back into midfield and play the deeper role, allowing Declan Rice to push higher up into the left-eight position. Captain Martin Odegaard will, of course, start in his usual preferred position.
This means there is a debate on if and where Kai Havertz should start. Against Manchester City in the Community Shield, he started as a striker and with Gabriel Jesus still injured, the German could go up top again for this one – despite playing in midfield last weekend.
This may be harsh on Eddie Nketiah who started and scored vs Forest, but Arteta might want a little more height leading the line in an away game like this to help go long when trying to beat the opposition's press.
Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka should start once more on each flank after they both impressed in the opening match of the new campaign.
Arsenal's predicted XI: Aaron Ramsdale; Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Ben White; Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard; Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka