Arsenal vs. Leeds United: Predicted Lineup, Bench & Score

10 matches. What a season it has been. Regardless of how it ends, the club has taken a tremendous step forward. After a long campaign, the final stretch of matches is finally here. No more international breaks. No more Cup or European distractions. They are 20 points ahead of 4th place with 30 to 36 points available for the teams in that range. The Champions League spot is almost a lock, and with Manchester United 19 points back (but with two matches in hand), all of the focus is squarely on each and every match-day result for Arsenal and Manchester City.

Back in the high-point of Leeds United, they dominated Arsenal for nearly two decades (the late 1950s to 1970s) in which the Gunners only one four out of 34 matches. However, most recent times, especially since Leeds returned to the Premier League have been quite favorable to Arsenal. Since the start of 2020, the two sides have played seven times with Arsenal winning six and drawing nil-nil in the other match.

Q&A with the Opposition: 5 questions with the Leeds, That podcast

Predicted XI

Bench

1. Leandro Trossard
2. Reiss Nelson
3. Fabio Vieira
4. Emile Smith Rowe
5. Matt Smith
6. Kieran Tierney
7. Jakub Kiwior
8. Reuell Walters
9. Matt Turner

• Left Out: William Saliba (injury), Thomas Partey (injury), Takehiro Tomiyasu (injury), Eddie Nketiah (injury), & Mohamed Elneny (injury)
• At the time of writing the club has not provided official injury updates on either William Saliba or Thomas Party. Thus for now, and considering neither was pictured during Thursday’s training session, let’s mark them down as unavailable and hope they are back for Liverpool a week later.
• Tomiyasu and Elneny will be out the season, but Eddie Nketiah is expected to return soon. His timeline before the international break had his return targeting either this match or Liverpool. But once again, not featured in the practice images, he may be out of contention as well for Saturday’s match.
• Luckily for Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta, the club has quality depth, most of its core fit, and a very well-timed return by Gabriel Jesus. Now Leandro Trossard was playing quite magnificently as the number nine before the break, and it’s hard to see him bench, but this match against Leeds United is ideal for starting Jesus and getting him up to speed and scoring before Arsenal faces Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City in the coming weeks.
• Jorginho and Holding should fill in nicely for Partey and Saliba. While the bench has plenty of attacking options to bring on, Arteta will likely need to call in U21’s Matt Smith for midfield coverage and Reuell Walters once again to help if needed in either fullback role.

How to watch

Saturday (4/1) at 10:00 am ET / 7:00 am PT on the USA Network.

Prediction

Arsenal - 3

Leeds United - 1

Leeds were showing attacking improvement before the international break. However, playing at the Emirates and with the current form Arsenal were showing during the first half of the month, it’s hard to see Leeds’ defense keeping up with the Gunners’ offensive talent.