Rosicky is in fact on the bench. Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud Bench: Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Rosicky, Walcott, Gnabry, Bendtner
I'd rather we started with some width, you know, in case they pose a threat? If they score, they'll sit back, and they will defend expertly, if we try and play through the middle, we'll get nowhere.
That is one argument - but they will press us quite a bit and with the players on the pitch we should be able to pass our way through them.
1436: Arsenal v Southampton (1515 GMT) The kick-off in Arsenal's game with Southampton has been delayed for 15 minutes in the interests of crowd safety as a result of ongoing disruption on the Piccadilly Line.
Good to see Wilshere is fit enough to start even if it doesnt offer us much width to begin with. Also good to see Rosicky make the bench when it looked like he may not take part today. Our bench looks ok with Rosicky, Walcott and Gnabry all useful attacking options and our usual defensive subs available.