Arsenal's probable starting 11 against Sunderland

No one can doubt that the squad assembled after this season’s transfer window is the most ambitious since the time of the ‘Invincibles’ for Arsenal.

With the arrival of Podolski and Giroud, we already have a better squad than last season when we finished third. If reports are to be believed, Arsenal are set to sign Santi Cazorla next week and Nuri Sahin has been given the green light by Jose Mourinho to join any club he wants. With the possible additions of the two players, I don’t see any changes to our squad until at least the 18th of August. Although Robin Van Persie does not want to remain in the side and Barcelona wants to acquire Song, I still feel the transfer window will be closed for Arsenal after the possible arrivals of Cazorla and Sahin. Although we have been linked with Yann M’Vila and Victor Wanyama, we all know that M’Vila’s deal is most probably off after his bad behavior at Euros and he will not be able to play in the Champions League if he joins us because he has already played qualification matches with Celtic and Celtic will probably qualify for either group stages of UCL or Europa League .So, expect this deal to be off as well.

Now the main question is:

What will be our starting 11 line up against Sunderland and which players will come off from the bench to play?

Just a few days ago, Arsene Wenger stated that Podolski, Mertesacker and Giroud might not be ready against Sunderland and many Gooners were shocked and questioned this statement, but it’s true that the Germans in the side might not be ready because there is a friendly on 15th August- Germany v/s Argentina. If selected, Mertesacker and Podolski might stay in Germany after Podolski’s farewell match on 12th August against FC Cologne.

Even though it is difficult to predict the line up before 17th August, but still, I am predicting a starting 11 against Sunderland, keeping in mind the most important fact that the new signings don’t generally start in their first match.

Starting 11:

Szczesny

Coquelin Koscielny Vermaelen Gibbs

Song

Arteta Diaby

Walcott Gervinho

Persie

Many might be surprised by the fact that Diaby is starting, but he impressed in pre-season and on top of that, he is not injured. He is not new to Arsenal, so expect him to start. Another important thing is that if Mertesacker is available,then he might start as CB, while Vermaelen might play as RB. But other than that, I think this is the most probable starting 11 line up. By the way, we expect Cazorla and Sahin (if signed, of course) to make a substitute appearance although it depends on whether we are winning or losing .I hope we can start our season well (unlike last time) and challenge for the title.

Good luck Gooners!