It’s a bit of a strange feeling heading into this one. We’ve just tasted defeat against Villa and will want to put things right in Belgium. However, there’s that feeling of there being far more important games on the horizon which takes some of the excitement off this game. Tuesday night’s results confirmed our place in the Champions League knockout stages, while a win here could even seal a place in the top eight with two games to spare. Regardless of how you frame it, I’d still like to see some changes to the starting XI to freshen up the side after an unyielding recent schedule.

Missing out of the Brugge game are William Saliba, Leandro Trossard (both injured) and Declan Rice (illness), limiting the options at Mikel Arteta’s disposal. Gabriel, Kai Havertz, Cristhian Mosquera and Max Dowman join that trio on the sidelines, leaving the following senior players up for consideration:

Goalkeepers: Raya, Kepa

Defenders: White, Timber, Hincapie, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly

Midfielders: Zubimendi, Norgaard, Odegaard, Merino, Eze, Nwaneri

Forwards: Saka, Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli

My starting XI would be as follows:

GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Why not give our number two goalkeeper an opportunity here? With Palace on the horizon in the Carabao Cup Quarter-Finals, playing Kepa has two benefits. Either the ex-Chelsea stopper gets a game here if Arteta wants to use Raya from now on in that competition or he gets match sharpness ahead of that encounter in two weeks. Knowing Arteta, it will be Raya as usual, but I hope he goes the other way.

RB: Ben White
Seemingly back to his best since returning to the starting lineup, White has shown his ability to endure a hectic schedule previously and is primed for a run in the side now with Saliba, Mosquera and Gabriel out.

CB: Jurrien Timber
With only two of our four right-footed defenders available, Timber may have to just keep playing. Building up further familiarity as a centre-back should do him no harm if Saliba continues to remain sidelined.

CB: Riccardo Calafiori
Suspended for the weekend visit of Wolves, it seems sensible to give Calafiori the full 90 minutes in Belgium. Adept at playing as a centre-back as he does for Italy, I would use him here in order to give Piero Hincapie a rest.

LB: Myles Lewis-Skelly
Myles has been short of starts this season with five in total to date. Virtually assured of his place against Wolves on Saturday, getting 70 minutes or so under his belt here makes sense.

DM: Christian Norgaard
Norgaard filled in expertly for the suspended Zubimendi on our last European away trip, as we ran out 3-0 winners in Prague against Slavia. Afforded just three starts in total this season, I can’t see many better opportunities to give the Dane match practice.

CM: Ethan Nwaneri
In a continued theme of this team selection, I want Arteta to give minutes to those who have lacked them thus far. Nwaneri still has some development to do defensively when playing the Odegaard role, but always shines on the ball – hopefully he gets plenty of it here.

CM: Eberechi Eze
Left out of the starting lineup against Brentford and then playing a poor first-half at Villa, Eze needs to pick himself back up after the high of his North London Derby hat-trick has faded somewhat. The lack of a natural partner in midfield for Norgaard is a concern but perhaps Lewis-Skelly can invert from full-back in support, to allow our playmakers to thrive in the final third.

RW: Noni Madueke
It feels great to have an excellent alternative to Bukayo Saka on the right-wing. Madueke still has more to give, especially with his end product, but has shown flashes of brilliance in an Arsenal shirt and deserves his opportunity to start a second game in three.

LW: Gabriel Martinelli
I was surprised and disappointed not to see Martinelli start against Villa’s high line. It felt like the perfect game to use our speed demon, yet Arteta opted for the ineffectual Eze instead. The Brazilian has to start this one, surely?

CF: Victor Gyokeres
He’s had a couple of substitute appearances since returning from injury – now it’s time for the starting lineup. A goal please Victor.

A tough game to call with Brugge troubling some top European sides previously. I can see it being an entertaining 2-2 draw, especially if our lineup is similar to this one with plenty of changes and attacking flair potentially disrupting our natural defensive structure. Three points would be lovely, but games against Wolves, Everton, Palace, Brighton and Villa before the end of the month are more crucial in the grand scheme of things. Four home games in five to come – plenty of opportunities for match-going fans to snap up a ticket. I’ll be at the Palace game to cheer on the boys. COYG

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Featured Image Credit: dju22000, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons