Arsenal vs. Leeds United: Premier League Predicted Lineup, Bench, Score

Arsenal travel to Leeds United, looking to maintain their position atop the Premier League table. The Gunners have won 11 of 12 matches in all competitions this season, with the only slip coming away to Manchester United last month. It’s fortunate that Arsenal had the midweek Europa League match against Bodø/Glimt to refocus because coming off the massive win against Liverpool, the Gunners might have overlooked their next opponents. Mikel Arteta should have his bunch ready to go against what could be a tricky Leeds side.

Leeds United are winless in their last five Premier League matches (0-2-3) and have slipped to 15th in the table. But don’t let their record fool you. They’re a frisky bunch. They beat a Thomas Tuchel-coached Chelsea side 3-0 earlier this season. Jesse Marsch has his side playing a high-energy, pugnacious style that can turn games into emotional, scrappy contests that put opposing teams off their game.

Predicted XI

Bench

Matt Turner, Kieran Tierney, Cedric, Rob Holding, Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah.

Notes

The only question mark in the Arsenal lineup is whether Kieran Tierney or Takehiro Tomiyasu will get the start at left back. That Tierney started and played most of the game against Bodø suggests that Tomiyasu will get the nod, but the conventional wisdom was the Tomiyasu was preferred against Liverpool because of his ability to shut down opposing attackers. I’ll put it this way. Brenden Aaronson is a fine player. As an American, I like him quite a lot. He is not Mohamed Salah. So without the pressing need for Tomiyasu’s defensive capabilities, does Mikel Arteta go with the more attacking-capable Tierney?

As far as I know, Arsenal do not have any new injury concerns. Mikel Arteta hinted that Alex Zinchenko could miss a few more weeks with whatever injury has been keeping him out since he put in 74 minutes against Tottenham. Emile Smith Rowe is out until after the World Cup, and we probably won’t see him until at least midway through January. Mohamed Elneny will also be out a while, back in September Arteta said that he expected the midfielder to be out for a few months.

How to watch

Sunday, October 15th, 6 am PT | 9 am ET | 2 pm BT. Streaming on Peacock and fuboTV.

Prediction

3-0 to Arsenal.