Arsenal starting line-up for Galatasaray in Champions League

Happy Arsenal anniversary to Arsene Wenger, who started his job as manager of the Gunners 18 years ago today. The Frenchman will only enjoy his special day, however, if the Arsenal team he selects to face the Turkish club Galatasaray are able to come away with all three points.

And their manager Cesare Prandelli has vowed to make that task as difficult as possible and send his team out to harry and chase their Arsenal counterparts as he clearly sees that as the way to disrupt us from our fluent passing game.

So it is important for Arsenal to move the ball quickly and accurately and that is why I think that Wenger will opt to start with Mesut Ozil in the middle and Santi Cazorla on the left. They can swap positions and keep the Turkish defence guessing as well as being two of the best passing players Arsenal have. Danny Welbeck up front and Alexis Sanchez on the right will add pace and directness to the system, while Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Flamini will give us energy and ball retention in the centre.

My one concession to the Turks is to go for the more defensive Calum Chambers at right back, although Hector Bellerin will be on the bench if the Gunners need to go for it later in the game. Our strong back four with Szczesny behind should give our creative players the confidence to attack Galatasaray and our quality up front should turn that into a win.

Szczesny
Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs
Flamini, Wilshere
Alexis, Ozil, Cazorla
Welbeck

Is this the Arsenal team to give Wenger a happy anniversary with Arsenal?