Arsenal face Slavia Prague in the Champions League this evening, with Mikel Arteta recalling Max Dowman and William Saliba to the matchday squad.
Dowman was absent from the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield as he started a three-match suspension following his late sending off in the Carabao Cup defeat by Fleetwood. That ban only applies to domestic competition, so Dowman is able to feature in the Czech Republic, where Arteta has rotated his side with six changes from the weekend.
Saliba ready to return
Saliba travelled with the squad on Tuesday afternoon as he pushes to show that he is ready to make his first appearance of the season. The Frenchman is back in training and has recovered from the back injury that has kept him out for the entire campaign so far.
Arteta said at his pre-match press conference that Saliba is “ready to go”.
“Now you're in or not,” the Spaniard said. “Now he's in. He's in like anybody else. All the preparation has been done to make sure all the load and all the steps have been done to minimise the risk. He's in a really good place, he's built the capacity that we needed. Now it's about giving him minutes.”
Team news and lineup
Ben White starts in Prague, as Arteta continues to split the right-back minutes. The same goes for Piero Hincapie at left-back, with Arsenal keen to manage Riccardo Calafiori's workload.
In midfield, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino come in for Bruno Guimaraes and captain Martin Odegaard. Eberechi Eze has been dealing with a minor injury but that is not an issue in Prague and he is set to start on the left, with Christos Tzolis only just back from a hamstring issue and not able to start twice in four days.
Kai Havertz took his chance up front at Anfield by scoring the winner, but Viktor Gyokeres has started two of Arsenal's three Champions League matches so far this term and will lead the line here.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Konsa, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Merino, Madueke, Eze, Gyokeres.
Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Meslier, Timber, Calafiori, Saliba, Mosquera, Lewis-Skelly, Guimaraes, Odegaard, Tzolis, Dowman, Havertz.
The match takes place at Fortuna Arena, Prague, with kick-off at 8pm GMT on Wednesday November 4, 2026, and will be broadcast on TNT Sports.
