Arsenal1 - 0Dinamo Zagreb

The 18-year-old was an unexpected omission from the squad to face the Croatian giants at the Emirates after completing the full 90 minutes of Saturday's 2-2 Premier League stalemate with Aston Villa.

Instead, Oleksandr Zinchenko makes a rare appearance at left-back over Lewis-Skelly, who made his maiden Champions League start in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Monaco during the previous round.

Speaking to TNT Sports before kickoff, Arteta confirmed that Lewis-Skelly had been involved in "an incident" during the top-flight clash with the Lions, hence his omission from the matchday squad on Wednesday.

However, the Gunners boss did not say how severe the teenager's issue was, replying: "He could not finish the training session unfortunately. He had an incident during the match against Villa and he wasn't feeling right yesterday."

While one left-back in Lewis-Skelly has entered the treatment room, Arteta now has Riccardo Calafiori available again after the Italy international missed three matches with a muscular injury.

Arteta makes four changes for Dinamo Zagreb showdown

The Italy international is only among the substitutes, though, as is Ethan Nwaneri following his own muscular concern, and Arteta revealed that the former was not able to see out the full training session on Tuesday.

"The same with Riccy as well, he only trained 20 minutes yesterday," Arteta added. "So adapt again like we have done all season and have some freshness in the team, which I think is important as well."

Zinchenko is not the only rare starter in Arsenal's backline, as Jakub Kiwior has been drafted in at centre-back alongside Gabriel Magalhaes, stepping in for William Saliba while the Frenchman recuperates from a hamstring injury.

Kiwior's introduction allows Arteta to shift Jurrien Timber over to right-back in place of Thomas Partey, who is demoted to the bench as Jorginho comes in alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard in midfield.

The Gunners boss has also made one change up front, promoting Raheem Sterling back to the first XI on the right-hand side as Leandro Trossard makes way, despite the Belgian's pair of assists at the weekend.

Arsenal are already assured of a playoff place in the Champions League, and victory tonight would virtually assure Arteta's men of a top-eight finish and a spot in the last 16 without the need for a two-legged playoff.

The Gunners have won all three of their Champions League home games without conceding so far this season and could achieve a club first by beating Fabio Cannavaro's side in the English capital tonight.

Written by

Ben Knapton