We’re back with Champions League football tonight, and it’s a visit to Napoli in my favourite city in Italy for those travelling Arsenal players and fans. Of course the problem with Naples is that it’s also a dodgy as hell in parts, and I’ve seen warnings about sticking to hotel bars if you’re English, but as I sit here in Blighty patiently awaiting this game, I can only admit to jealousy that I’m not spending this afternoon scoffing down pizza ahead of our campaign going underway.

And it’s a campaign that I think a lot of Arsenal fans have their eyes on, having gone:

  • Quarter-finals in 2024
  • Semi-finals in 2025
  • Final in 2026

Oh, if only life was linear, eh? A straight path to winning the Champions League this season would be unreal. But in order for that to happen, you do feel we’re going to need to have a very good group stage, because it does drastically help your route through the knockouts. Last season we certainly had a favourable draw; it’s unlikely we’ll get the same again this season, but finishing top again would not only lay down a marker for the rest of Europe, but it would also most likely at least make our Round of 16 game a little easier.

The key question I think most of us have for tonight is how much Mikel Arteta will rotate. This is the first week in which there are three games within a week. We played on Sunday, we play tonight, then it’s a trip to Sunderland on Saturday evening, so we really do need to see some kind of shuffle somewhere on the pitch. The challenge is where that happens, because Arteta has so many options, which is really great when you think about it. We’ve spent the best part of two seasons worrying about injuries, and whilst they will still come this season, the fact that we’ve got the squad we have is testimony to the good work that the club has done. Chelsea were bemoaning how they got to a situation where they are playing two right-backs in central midfield at the end of the last game, whereas we’re wondering how we’re going to keep players happy.

I look at the players who missed a lot of football last season, and those are the ones I think I have the most focus on for rotation tonight. To me, that means Calafioiri, Odegaard, Saka, and Havertz, so personally I’d be looking at those guys as candidates. Maybe not all of them, but one or two, perhaps. We play Sunderland at the weekend, who are a direct side and will go long and fancy a battle, so I’d be looking at Hincapie for that one. I think Calafiori would probably start tonight if it were me. He’s also going back to Italy; he’s just done an interview stating how fresh he feels, he’s in great form, and was unlucky not to score at the weekend. So I’d keep him in.

As for the rest of the defence, I think Arteta probably doesn’t have much of a choice; White and Konsa start because we still don’t know about Mosquera, and he can’t be risked if he’s not fit, so you’d think the rest of the back five will pick itself. Midfield is where the real questions lie, because we have a litany of players who could play, and personally, here’s where I’d do most of the rotation. I think I’d certainly give one of Zubimendi or Bruno a go, and I suspect it might be Bruno to start tonight. He’s been on the bench for a couple of games; I think the manager will be eager to put him in, but if it were me, I’d hold him back for one more game, with Sunderland in mind. He’ll be bang up for that one at the weekend against his former club’s hated rivals, so I kind of feel like that one works, whilst Zubimendi needs to get minutes into those legs, so I’d go with the Spaniard. I’d probably keep Odegaard and Rice together, given the captain’s performance at the weekend just gone, whilst Rice is the engine that just keeps going. Perhaps there’s a case to swap Bruno for Rice, but I suspect Arteta won’t do that, and neither would I.

It’s the same with Saka; I think he’s looked good. I’d keep him tonight, although I have a sneaky suspicion that he might use Noni. I’d keep Saka on the right, I’d have Tzolis on the left, then I’d actually go for Gyokeres down the middle. I think of all the players who missed a lot of football last season; Kai missed some of the most, and after that first game against United on opening day last season, we then didn’t see him until the new year if I remember rightly. So for me, this is one where you bring in big Vik, you get him to run channels, knowing there is always more space in the Champions League compared to the Premier League.

Napoli will have a familiar look about them, as they’ll have De Bruyne, Hojlund, Gilmour and Badiashile, but they’ll be missing McTominay and Anguissa, which is a bonus for us as it’s two players who are a key part of the way they play. They got beat away at Inter at the weekend, which had a defeat at home to Como before it, but I think Allegri might be thinking about rolling out the old guard in De Bruyne to try to hurt us this evening with our passing range. At 35, he won’t have the running power of the guy who bossed Premier League midfields five years ago, but he can still see a pass; he still has goals in him, and I wonder if Allegri will think about wheeling him out to see if he can roll back the years against a club he had plenty of joy with for 115 FC. And he’ll be looking for Hojlund to play the ‘Haaland-lite’ role this evening, with two goals already this season, like Gyokeres, you’d think he’ll be looking to make those runs in behind our back line as we press a little higher.

The good thing we have is that our two centre halves are ball recovery monsters, so I am hopeful we can keep Napoli at bay. And if we do that, then it’s over to those attacking Arsenal players to do the business.

A win tonight sets us up really nicely for Lille at home in October, before we then have the tricky away day in Munich against Bayern to worry about. The good thing about this setup is that one or two defeats isn’t fatal, but if we want to lay down a marker that we might go deep in this competition, you kind of feel we probably need to win at least two of our four away games – probably three, which means one of Napoli, Munich, Slavia Praha or Betis needs to fall. Let’s kick it off by doing it in Naples tonight.