Five debuts, David Raya out, Bukayo Saka starts – Arsenal line ups vs Bolton

After an eventful weekend, Arsenal can turn their action to the Carabao Cup when they take on Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday night.

The Gunners came so close to a historic result against Manchester City on Sunday before John Stones’ last gasp equaliser. The drama did not end there, though.

Erling Haaland collided with Thomas Partey and Gabriel before telling Mikel Arteta to “be humble” at the full-time whistle. The Spaniard has declined to comment on the issue, but it has surely lit a fire under the rivalry between Arsenal and their title rivals.

The Gunners will now look to move on from the late blow with a relatively kind Carabao Cup third round tie against League One Bolton. There is little friendly about the absentee list currently facing Arteta though.

Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kieran Tierney and Mikel Merino are all definitely out, while Neto is cup tied and Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all huge doubts.

Arteta may use this as an opportunity to play some of the academy stars of tomorrow. It’s a tricky balancing act, though, as the Spaniard is desperate to win a first trophy since 2020 and will want to avoid a shock upset.

It’s not been an ideal for few weeks in terms of team preparation for Arteta but that shouldn’t matter too much here. Arsenal’s core squad is more than good enough to get this done even if key players are missing.

Jack Porter is the only available goalkeeper so he is in from the start. The defence could change in front of him, though.
It would be good to give Ben White another rest but question marks over Timber leave that uncertain. Ideally the Dutchman would be able to share some minutes here.

In the middle, this is a great chance to get Jakub Kiwior up to speed. He goes alongside William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes in what remains a strong backline. With no real alternatives on either flank, Arteta’s hands are tied.

The midfield has more flexibility due to Ethan Nwaneri, who is surely due a start. It would be good to see Myles Lewis-Skelly get a runout as well after his Premier League debut on Sunday. Outside of those two, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jorginho and Thomas Partey stay together.

In attack, Raheem Sterling has the perfect opportunity to make his first start on the right, Gabriel Jesus also goes from the off through the middle, and it’s Gabriel Martinelli continuing on the left.

Coley’s XI: Porter; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Partey, Jorginho, Nwaneri; Sterling, Jesus, Martinelli.