With Arsenal back in Europa League action on Thursday evening, manager Mikel Arteta will once again have the luxury of naming a larger matchday squad.
This marks a change with regard to how the Spaniard goes about his plans for a Premier League fixture. As seen at the weekend against Bournemouth and throughout the season so far, the Gunners boss is allowed to name up to nine players on the substitutes bench.
And considering Arsenal have 24 senior players listed on their official website, Arteta will soon have a big decision to make once Gabriel Jesus, in particular, is fit and available for selection as three first-team stars in addition to the injured Mohamed Elneny - have to be left out.
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But the rules are different for the Europa League as clubs are permitted to name a 23-man matchday squad which means 12 substitutes. During the group phase, Arteta took advantage by naming youngsters such as Amario Cozier-Duberry, Khaydon Edwards, Matt Smith and Catalin Cirjan on the bench in at least one fixture.
And looking ahead to Thursday's round of 16 first-leg meeting against Sporting CP, early signs suggest that the Spanish tactician will repeat the trick as a number of the club's most promising prospects look set to be rewarded with a seat on the plane that travels to Portugal on Wednesday.
As Elneny won't feature that leaves 23 senior players in contention but with Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah potentially all missing out because of injury, the aforementioned number drops to 20 and could decrease even further depending on Karl Hein's situation as he's not been spotted in training since before the 1-1 draw at home to Brentford last month.
Therefore, at least three Arsenal youngsters could be named on the bench, but following a few loan deals completed in the January transfer window, Arteta can now select from Zach Awe, Henry Jeffcott, Zane Monlouis, James Lannin-Sweet, Reuell Walters, Mauro Bandeira, Cirjan, Ben Cottrell, Jack Henry-Francis, Bradley Ibrahim, Joel Ideho, Zine-Eddine Oulad M'Hand, Smith and Charles Sagoe Jr as they are all on Arsenal's updated squad list, as per UEFA.com.
Unfortunately, Edwards isn't yet back from a spell on the sidelines whilst Amario Cozier-Duberry, who has made several senior matchday squads for the Gunners this season - including the 2-1 win over FC Zurich on matchday one of the Europa League group stage - could be a doubt after it emerged that he may have picked up an injury whilst playing for the U21s against Liverpool on Monday night.
In addition, as it's common for two goalkeepers to be named on the bench for a Europa League fixture, it means one of Hubert Grazcyk or James Hillson could be called up as the third-choice option behind Aaron Ramsdale and Matt Turner if Hein is unavailable for selection.
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