Unai Emry confirms both Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny will be in the 18 man squad to face Qarabag.
Ozil has been suffering from severe back problems and wasn’t involved in the last three matches for the Gunners. The former Real Madrid playmaker has been building up his match fitness and Emery insists the player is ready for the Europa League clash.
The Arsenal boss also added Koscielny is likely to be unleashed what could be his first appearance since may following his Achilles injury which also required a surgery. The Arsenal captain appeared for the Gunners reserve side in the Checkatrade Trophy against Portsmouth and could lead the Gunners backline on Thursday.
With Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi both out due to injury problems, Koscielny’s timely return would be a big boost for Emery.
When asked about Ozil the gaffer answered, “Tomorrow he is in the group, the 18 players for this match and we are going to decide if he plays from the beginning or during the 90 minutes.”
On Koscielny’s chances the gaffer added, “Our first mind in this competition is to be first in the group – which we have done.
“But we respect this competition and Qarabag. Tomorrow our objective is to win, we will give players chance to take responsibility and confidence.
“We are going to use tomorrow with some different players, with some coming from Under-23s. We also start to play with Laurent Koscielny.
“We have some players with injuries and unavailable at centre-back.
“We are going to decide after tomorrow, because it will be the first time Koscielny can play.
“We can use other players in this position, like sometimes Monreal and [Stephan] Lichsteiner.
“So we will decided, but first we think about the game tomorrow.”
