Charlie Nicholas has urged Arsenal to drop Granit Xhaka for the coming matches, claiming they do not need a holding midfielder at home to such teams.
The Gunners host West Bromwich Albion on Monday night, and having seen all their top six rivals having won already this weekend, will be keen to follow suit.
Pressure is on our side to keep pace with the top of the table after a slow start to the campaign thus far, and Nicholas thinks we should be more aggressive in our approach at home against certain sides, and leaving Xhaka out the starting line-up would be his decision.
“I would consider leaving him out and say ‘I’m going to go with (Mesut) Ozil, (Aaron) Ramsey’,” Nicholas said.
“Do Arsenal seriously need a holding midfield player when you’re playing at home?
“They might say ‘well they’ll be too attack minded’. But they’re attack minded when they have a holding midfield player so I would leave Xhaka out.”
“You’d take the risk at home, Arsenal need to start getting a bit of momentum, getting the fans right behind them again,” added the Scot.
“They’ve actually got a run of games coming up that they have that opportunity now.
“Maybe Everton away (is their next big game), I know they’re not doing great but that’s an awkward one for Arsenal.
“They need the momentum, they need the belief in the fans to start coming through.”
Do Arsenal need to field a more attacking XI? Would Nicholas ever tell Chelsea to drop Kante in favour of more attacking players? Would Ozil really be worth including at CM when he is usually criticised for a lack of defensive work?
Pat J