Five days after preparations began for the Premier League restart, Arsenal are back in action against Lyon in the Dubai Super Cup.
Last Saturday's behind-closed-doors friendly against Watford saw members of the Gunners' senior squad not at the World Cup get their first run out since the 2-0 victory away at Wolves - a result which confirmed their spot as the Christmas number one - almost a month ago.
As a result, today's meeting with Lyon, who could hand starts to Alexandre Lacazette and Houssem Aouar, is the next step in Arsenal's preparations for the resumption of the 2022/23 campaign on Boxing Day when they welcome London rivals West Ham United to the Emirates Stadium.
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And Mikel Arteta's decisions against Watford may serve as a hint as to what line-up he will select against the Ligue 1 outfit, especially as Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba are still close by in Qatar whilst Matt Turner and Thomas Partey are among those have been eliminated from the World Cup but are yet join up with the squad.
With Arsenal's first and second choice goalkeepers unavailable, Karl Hein should get the nod over James Hillson and Hubert Grazyck. The Estonia international endured a nightmare competitive debut against Brighton in the Carabao Cup last month, he retains the support of Arteta and is set for an instant shot at redemption.
"I think he [Hein] deserves the chance. He's the first goalie of the national team and at his age that's not usual," the Spaniard told reporters after the game. "If I have to play him tomorrow again I would. Errors are part of football."
The defensive unit in front of Hein could be the same one that started against Watford, with Cedric Soares getting the nod at right-back - with Takehiro Tomiyasu taking a break after Japan's round of 16 exit and Ben White not travelling - alongside Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes in central defence.
Considering Oleksandr Zinchenko didn't play against Watford and hasn't been spotted taking part in any session outside on the grass since the squad arrived in the United Arab Emirates, it could be that Kieran Tierney gets the nod at left-back once again with Lino Sousa on the bench.
Granit Xhaka may already be in Dubai before kick-off after revealing his next move following Switzerland's World Cup exit: " Of course, emotionally it is not easy. But this is part of our business, part of football. You have to recover well," he told the Evening Standard. "The Premier League is waiting and, of course, I wanted to be here longer than this.
"But we lost the game today and I am happy to go back now with the team. I have something to achieve there, and I know the team is in Dubai at the moment doing the pre-season. I'm flying back to Dubai, going back to the team, and going back to the training and trying to forget the tournament now."
Despite this, it would be a surprise if Xhaka is even in the matchday squad let alone the starting line-up, so Arteta can name a midfield trio of Mohamed Elneny, Martin Odegaard and Albert Sambi Lokonga.
In attack, Eddie Nketiah should lead the line in the first game since Gabriel Jesus underwent knee surgery and he could be supported by Marquinhos and Reiss Nelson from the flanks as it's almost certain the game comes too soon for Emile Smith Rowe to start as his involvement in training has been limited.
Arsenal predicted XI vs Lyon: Hein; Cedric, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Elneny, Odegaard, Lokonga; Marquinhos, Nketiah, Nelson.
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