Kieran Tierney is in the starting lineup to face Brentford at Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening – one of five changes to the side that beat Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The full back makes his first league start for us since May 2023, and is joined in the team by Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Ethan Nwaneri.

The five to miss out from the midweek team are Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly – all are among the substitutes. It means two-goal hero from midweek Declan Rice retains his place in the side, with Jorginho also coming into the midfield as captain.

Our other scorer from Tuesday, Merino, is replaced up front by Trossard, who scored in our last league game – a 1-1 draw with Everton last weekend. 

Ben White is not in the squad at all, but there is a place on the bench for Jack Henry-Francis, a 21 year old midfielder who spent the first half of the season on loan to Sligo Rovers. 

Mikel Arteta said: “We had some issues after midweek. Ben White couldn’t be in the squad because he felt something again post-training yesterday, so that limits the solutions we have because Jurrien wasn’t ready to start the game either. Other players as well played a lot of minutes and other players deserve to play minutes to help the team.”

Brentford played out a goalless draw at home to Chelsea last weekend, and manager Thomas Frank makes just the one change to that team. Vitaly Janelt comes in to replace Yehor Yarmoliuk in midfield. 

LINE-UPS

Arsenal: Raya, Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Tierney, Jorginho, Rice, Zinchenko, Nwaneri, Martinelli, Trossard. 

Subs: Neto, Timber, Lewis-Skelly, Henry-Francis, Odegaard, Saka, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Merino.

Brentford: Flekken, van den Berg, Ajer, Collins, Lewis-Potter, Norgaard, Schade, Janelt, Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Wissa. 

Subs: Valdimarsson, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen, Mee, Yarmoliuk, Konak, Kayode, Nunes.