Overview
- A win in Bruges would all but secure Arsenal's passage to the Champions League last 16 after five wins from five and 15 points.
- Declan Rice did not travel due to illness and Leandro Trossard is out with a calf knock, with Arteta confirming both absences.
- Defensive options are thinned by longer layoffs for Gabriel Magalhães and Cristhian Mosquera and doubts over William Saliba and Riccardo Calafiori, with teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly tipped to start at left-back.
- Mikel Merino is one yellow card from a European suspension, adding to selection calculations following Rice's absence.
- Club Brugge enter under new coach Ivan Leko after Nicky Hayen's sacking, with goalkeeper Simon Mignolet a major doubt and 20-year-old Dani van den Heuvel expected to start.