The league format of the Champions League comes to a conclusion on Wednesday, with Arsenal looking set to finish top of the pile.
The Gunners are the only team with a 100% record going into the final round, as Mikel Arteta’s men face bottom-club Kairat at the Emirates Stadium (8pm, live on TNT Sports 7).
Arsenal are the joint-top scorers in this season’s tournament, netting 20 goals in their first seven matches, while they have conceded just twice.
With just one point from their opening seven fixtures at European club football’s top table, Kairat have suffered in their first ever Champions League campaign.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Kairat Almaty
Arsenal Predicted XI (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Saliba, Lewis-Skelly; Merino, Zubimendi, Eze; Martinelli, Gyokeres, Madueke.
Arsenal team news vs Kairat Almaty
With Arsenal having already sealed their place in the last-16 and with a big trip to Leeds to come in the Premier League at the weekend, Arteta is expected to make changes to his starting XI.
Declan Rice was rested against Inter Milan on Matchday Seven and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the England man on the bench again on Wednesday.
Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli were all substitutes for Sunday’s Premier League defeat to Manchester United, and all three could start against Kairat.
Ethan Nwaneri was on the bench at the San Siro last time out in Europe, but he has since joined French club Marseille on loan for the remainder of the season.
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League form could force changes for Arteta
Just two points from their last three Premier League games has seen Arsenal’s title advantage cut to just four points.
The Gunners are still fighting on all four fronts and it means Arteta will have to manage his squad over the coming weeks.
The Arsenal boss, who is being linked with a January move for Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, is in a position to rest some of his key players on Wednesday.
With the north London outfit having already sealed their place in the Champions League last-16, there is likely to be a number of changes to the starting line-up.
Although they lost Sunday’s league clash with Manchester United, Arsenal don’t appear to have picked up any further injury problems.
This fixture is one of four matches in the next two weeks for the Gunners, with a league trip to Leeds to come on Saturday.
That is followed by the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie at home to Chelsea next midweek before they host Sunderland in the league on February 7th.
