Nine changes, three more points and one big step towards the Europa League knockout stage.
Thursday evening’s 1-0 win at Red Star Belgrade saw us field an almost completely different side from that which has appeared regularly in the Premier League.
But what is behind this rotation policy - and can those players who have performed so well in Europe force their way into the team for our top-flight matches?
“It’s impossible to come off that intensity [in Belgrade] and then play against Everton,” Arsene Wenger said. “Of course, I left 10 or 11 players at home and I decided to rotate at the start of the season.
“The time will come where the rotation can go anyway. It’s important to see that these players get stronger and stronger in every game.
“We play on Tuesday again, at home [against Norwich], so we have to have a global plan. We have to.
“Of course [I expect a response from the Watford defeat],” he added. “I believe that as well that what is important is that we are coming out from Watford from a big run, a long [unbeaten] run and the team responded again in Belgrade.
“You have to consider our global performances on a longer period to show that we can restart in the Premier League as well.”
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