Potential Starters For Bate Clash

The Arsenal manager promised to picked a competitive team with a mixture of youth and experience as the Gunners look to build on their 3-1 victory over FC Koln a fortnight ago in their opening group stage clash.

      Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Josh Dasilva, who all featured against Doncaster Rovers last week in the Carabao Cup, have been joined in eastern Europe by Charlie Gilmour, Vlad Dragomir and Marcus McGuane. ‘Gilmour is a defender or central midfielder,’ said Wenger. ‘McGuane is a defensive midfielder, and overall he can play as a wing-back or even a centre back in training.

       Josh Dasilva is a left wing-back or a left-centre back. ‘Vlad Dragomir is a Romanian boy, he was with us for a few years, he’s a No 10, Wilshere-style, left-footed, a creative player.’ Per Mertesacker is likely to return to the starting line-up as captain, and the former Germany international believes being in and around the first team squad will represent a vital experience for the latest batch of youngsters coming off the Arsenal production line.