Wenger planning young Europa side

With qualification to the second round already assured, Arsene Wenger may field one of his youngest ever sides tonight against Koln. Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah were training with the senior squad as usual and could be in line to follow up on their impressive start to the season. Young teammates Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock could also feature. Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott were both absent from training and may miss the away trip to Germany.

Monreal doesn’t doubt players commitment

Nacho Monreal believes that Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are both committed to Arsenal but admits he isn’t sure what the future will bring. With the two players’ contracts set to expire in the summer some fans may question their early season performances. However, after the victory in the North London derby against Tottenham both players performed well. Monreal thinks that as long as the pair are Arsenal players they will remain focused on the team. The Spanish defender said:

“The feeling is that they will continue. At no time have we talked about the possibility of them leaving. Not at all. They are committed to the group and we will see what happens. I can’t say much about it. It does not depend on me. The situation is clear. They are two vital players for Arsenal. They are two players who end their contracts at the end of the season. If the club want them to stay beyond December they will follow. Yet, I do not know the club’s intentions. It is other people who are the ones who have to make a decision.”

Keown sceptical of motivation 

Martin Keown remains unsure of the motivation of Ozil and Sanchez, despite their weekend performances. The former defender, who played a number of games against Spurs believes that it is easy to motivate yourself for that game, bu the next few fixtures will really tell if there has been a change. Arsenal face high flying Burnley next in the league and Keown wonders if the performance levels will be similar.

“When you play Tottenham you don’t need motivation. If anything, you have to keep your emotions in check. You have to play with your head, not your heart. A cynic would say that Ozil’s performance merely guaranteed him his move in January. Will he work as hard on Sunday when Arsenal travel to Burnley? If both Ozil and Alexis Sanchez perform as they did against Spurs for the rest of the season, they will be able to leave Arsenal with everyone’s blessing. They will have given their all until the last.”