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Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice start as Mikel Arteta can choose dream Arsenal XI vs Coventry City
Aug 18 2026 06:48 · By www.football.london · 7 Reads
Arsenal take on Coventry City in their opening match of the Premier League season. It will be the curtain raiser for this year’s campaign with a Friday night kick-off and every other club watching what is happening at the Emirates Stadium.
The same occurred on Sunday afternoon as the Gunners put three goals past their closest rivals for the title, Manchester City. It was a dominant performance that left Enzo Maresca and anyone of another club persuasion reeling at just how good this Arsenal team might be when they get up to speed.
23 seconds is all it took for Arsenal to score the first goal and Mikel Arteta wished instead he could have had 23 players in his matchday squad, leaving Gabriel Martinelli, Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Jesus out of the side. That is considering both Jurrien Timber and William Saliba remain injured.
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With that in mind, and players getting back to sharpness, a dream scenario would mean both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice could be ready to start this game. Some might argue this is ill-advised with rest needed, and I agree.
But with Arsenal producing some of their most aggressive work on Sunday, perhaps they look to go big early again against the promoted side. Start aggressive with a very strong side and win the game in the first half.
Then they can bring off the likes of Rice and Saka and give them that rest that they need. Having a midfield three of Rice, Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Odegaard is equally exciting and something many fans definitely want to see.
But the back line and the defence will be as expected from the final, in addition to Kai Havertz and Christos Tzolis continuing their goal-scoring form from Cardiff. Timber is fighting to be back as soon as possible, but even in a dream scenario his return looks unlikely for this week.
Arsenal dream XI vs Coventry City – Raya; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Guimaraes, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Tzolis