Woke up early today buzzing about the Arsenal pre-season rumours. Grabbed my coffee, usual routine, fired up the laptop wondering what nonsense the transfer tabloids were cooking up this morning.
Scrolled through my usual feeds, noticed chatter about the lineup for that friendly against Girona FC soon. Thought, “Right, need a reliable source before sharing anything.” Don’t like spreading guesswork.
First step was checking the club’s official channels. Hit up Arsenal’s website and social media. Latest update? Still just squad lists from the tour, manager Arteta hinting he’d rotate players, give everyone minutes. No concrete starting XI. Had to dig deeper.
Dived into a few trusted footie news sites I use. Looked at injury reports first:
- Partey? Still out, recovering.
- Tierney? Looked like a maybe after that knock, probably won’t risk him.
- Saka? Fit, ready to go.
Then looked at who actually travelled with the squad. Saw all the usuals plus some academy lads. That ruled out players left at home.
Started piecing together a “probable XI” based on the clues:
- Turner? Most likely starts again in goal.
- Defence? Figured Saliba gets more time to gel, maybe White at RB? Centre-back pairing unclear.
- Midfield? Lokonga probably gets another run-out, maybe see Vieira or Ødegaard for 60 minutes?
- Attack? Martinelli definitely buzzing, Saka rested enough, maybe Eddie up top?
Checked two more sites to see if their guesses matched mine. Mostly did, give or take one position. The midfield pivot alongside Lokonga was the big question mark.
Refreshed everything twice by lunchtime. No surprises. Club keeping cards close to its chest, just like always pre-season. All the “probable XI” lists out there were basically educated guesses based on fitness, minutes played so far on tour, and known absences.
So yeah, that’s my process. Starts with official word, chases injury news, confirms who’s actually available, then sees what the reliable reporters think before finally making my own best guess. Honestly, Arteta could still throw a curveball and start Ethan Nwaneri, who knows? We won’t truly know ’til about an hour before kick-off, but the puzzle pieces are kinda fitting together now. That’s the news as of today anyway!
