West Brom vs Arsenal team news: Olivier Giroud starts first league match of the season

The French striker starts alongside Danny Welbeck up front

Olivier Giroud is nearing a return from his broken tibia
Olivier Giroud is nearing a return from his broken tibia

Arsene Wenger has selected Olivier Giroud for his first Premier League start of the season.

The Frenchman netted the Gunners' consolation goal in last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford in his return to first-team action after sustaining a broken tibia against Everton in August.

He is partnered up front by Danny Welbeck, who missed out on Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

Arsenal also welcome back Laurent Koscielny, who has been out since the start of October with tendonitis, while Mathieu Flamini comes in the the injured Mikel Arteta.

Claudio Yacob is out for West Brom, serving the first of a three-match suspension after his red card in last Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, and is replaced by Youssouf Mulumbu.

Sebastien Pocognoli comes in for Chris Baird at left-back, while top-scorer Saido Berahino retains his place despite the revelation earlier this week of the striker's arrest for drink-driving.

West Brom: Foster, Wisdom, Lescott, Dawson, Pocognoli, Gardner, Mulumbu, Brunt, Dorrans, Sessegnon, Berahino

Subs: Myhill, McAuley, Gamboa, Baird, Anichebe, Ideye, Samaras

Arsenal: Martinez, Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Welbeck, Alexis, Cazorla, Giroud

Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Bellerin, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Campbell, Podolski

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Please enter a valid email
Please enter a valid email
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Please enter your first name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
Please enter your last name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
You must be over 18 years old to register
You must be over 18 years old to register
Opt-out-policy
You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe.

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Join our new commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in