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Could this be the Arsenal line up to face Bournemouth?

Unai Emery facing a selection headache for Bournemouth Premier League clash

The Arsenal performance against Standard Liege on Thursday evening has created a bit of a headache for manager Unai Emery. The Spaniard has some big decisions to make ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth on Sunday.

There are strong claims for Kieran Tierney to start and even Hector Bellerin, however, the central defence is unlikely to be changed.

You would have thought that Rob Holding must be very close to a Premier League start but I just get the feeling that Emery will stay loyal to the Sokratis Luiz partnership.

The same applies to the midfield with Granit Xhaka, Emery is very unlikely to drop the Swiss international. His loyalty to his captain remains undiminished.

Emery also seems to favour Guendouzi as a starter and so it would be a toss-up between Torreira, Ceballos and Willock for the last midfield spot. Torreira looks the most likely starter in my opinion and so we have a central three of Xhaka, Torreira and Guendouzi.

Aubameyang and Pepe are certain starters and so that leaves Nelson, Saka and Martinelli for that final forward spot. I expect Emery to plump for Saka simply because he seems to really like the young forward.

Possible Line-up

Leno
Tierney
Sokratis
Luiz
Bellerin
Gunedouzi
Torreira
Xhaka
Aubameyang
Pepe
Saka

The unfortunate Calum Chambers misses out and a few players will feel disappointed that they have either been dropped or failed to get a start. That alone shows the strength of the Arsenal squad these days.

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43 Comments

  1. Sokratic seems to be fooling himself thesedays so i will prefer holding ahead of him..And also for a fast pace midfield we need xhaka to be benched..being captain shouldn’t guarantee a starting shirt you have to simply work hard for it..torre ceba & willock/guendozi should start in the middle

  2. I think only one of the players that started yesterday will start on Sunday, and more through necessity than design. The players who started yesterday didn’t train todayand KT and Bellerin surely won’t be risked after their injuries, but should be ready to go after the internationals hopefully, so the most likely line up is:
    Leno
    Chambers-Sokratis-Luiz-Kola
    Guendouzhi-?????-Xhaka
    Pepe-Auba-Saka
    I thought that Ozil might get a game but reading between the lines in Emery’s statements he doesn’t think that Ozil is putting in enough effort in training to deserve a place. If its true then fair play to Emery and its up to Ozil to prove him wrong. Willock came off early last night so my guess is he’ll start, but with Emery its hard to guess so really it could be any one of Willock, Torreira or Ceballos. AMN would also be an interesting choice as its supposed to be his best position and he also came of early last night.

    2. Ozil does not need to prove anything to Emery. It is Emery that needs to prove that he is the right man to lead us to success. Ozil is quality. It is not rocket science to figure that out

  3. Emerys team…
    Leno
    Chambers. Sok. Luiz. Kolas
    Gudennez. Xakai. Torrer
    Pepe. Auba. Saka..
    My team…
    Leno
    Chambers. Holding luiz Tierney
    Torrer. Willock
    Cabbello
    Martinelle. Auba. Saka…

  4. Offense and the midfield are ok.
    Aubamayang is really saving Arsenal on his own.
    CB and DM remain glaringly weak especially CB.
    Until we strengthen central defense we are skating on thin ice every game.
    To be honest it is only Emery’s genius that is keeping us competitive.

      1. He’s just winding people up. Remember your limited bag of tricks when you were 6 years old?

        It’s only cause he’s starved for attention. Just smile and hand him something shiney to play while the adults talk.

    2. It’s a team game we are all in it together that is why it is Called Arsenal football club we stick together come what may

  5. Regrettably I think you are spot on JW with regard to Emery’s team for Sunday.Your own choices match mine other than for Luis , as I would play Bellerin and move the solid Chambers to partner Holding.I’m not a fan of Mustafi but I prefer him to Luis or Sokratis who will come under real pressure from Bournemouths quick forwards.With Xhaka in front of these mediocre centre backs I cannot see us keeping a clean sheet, but with our fire power we should win.

    1. Yeah grandad I would play bellerin too but he seems a bit off the pace.
      Also I would perfer chambers when everyone fit this is my team..
      Leno
      Bellerin Chambers holding Tierney
      Torreer. Willock
      Cabbello

      Lacca
      Peppe. Auba..

    3. Grandad, I agree with your assessment; however I believe that Emery and his support staff are in the best position to ascertain when players returning from long term injuries should be reincorporated into the first team. Emery is in a no win situation if he plays Bellerin, in particular, and he be injured again.
      I expect a totally different team, closer to Jim Wall’s selection, following the return from the international break.

  6. I can’t see Bellerin & Tierney playing again on Sunday, unfortunately. Swap them for Chambers & Kolasinac and I reckon that’ll be the team

    1. According to his press conference Emery doesn’t believe he’s doing enough to justify a place ahead of the others. Could be Emery trying to motivate him or a smokescreen though

    3. Ozil played 24 games last season and was rubbish
      Ozil played 26 games previous year under Wenger and was rubbish

      Both Emery and Wenger gave him plenty of opportunities

      Ozil is probably rubbish in training too, so Emery had enough

      1. Yet Xhaka, Sokratis, and Luis walk into the starting 11?

        Methinks much hypocrisy is afoot with Emery in that aspect.

        How many goals has Ozil cost us compared to 3 stooges; Xhaka, Sokratis, and Luis?

        Any honest analysis leaves one scratching their head.

        2. I don’t think you can compare how many goals Ozil cost us since you’re comparing defensive players with a forward. The problem with Ozil is apparently that he’s not putting in a shift in training, while perhaps the other players are.

          1. No replacements? Chambers been ready since day one!
            We had clean sheet when he played against Newcastle.

            Before you say how bad they are, remember last placed Watford came back from 2 goals down to get a draw against us.

            Let’s not pretend Emery had no options; Chambers played better than Luis and Sokratis, and a better RB than AMN.

            But hey, let’s pretend like there was no one fit to step in at CB.

      2. Xhaka played ??? Last season and was rubbish
        Xhaka played ??? The last season of Wenger and was rubbish
        Xhaka played ???? This season and is still rubbish
        So what’s the difference PAL

        1. Emery coached 38games last season and was rubbish
          Emery as coached 7 games this season and as been rubbish.
          Put that in your pipe and smoke it @innit

          1. Dan, doesn’t say much for the coach/managers of the teams below Arsenal on the table.
            At the end of this season, you may have the opportunity to apply for the Arsenal coach position.

  8. With all this positive showing by the young players I think some praise must go to Freddie Ljungberg as it cant be a coincidence that so many players are now showing real promise when promoted into the first team. We always had a few coming through but in recent years prior to Freddie’s arrival we haven’t seen so many with good technical skills, so the coach must be doing something different.

  9. I hope not
    Swap Sokratis for Holding
    Swap Xhaka for Ceballos
    Maybe Wilock too

    Torreira, Xhaka and Guendouzi lacks creativity. Same problem against United

    Ceballos MUST start!

  10. I doubt Tierney and Bellerin will play again so soon. Chambers and Kolasinac to start.
    Xhaka will 100% be there. Guendouzi as well. Hopefully Emery will put Ceballos in there instead of Torreira and stop the experiments with him. Front 3 I’m going with same as against United. Pepe/Auba/Saka

  12. Aubameyang..

    Martinelli, Willock , Saka..

    Ceballos, Torreira..

    Tierney, Luiz, Holding, Bellerin ..

    Leno. final score arsenal 5-0 Bournemouth

  13. If the boys are fit and ready to play then put Holding in there along side Luiz. Bellerin & Teirney should start but not the full 90, they have to be ready at some point. If not this game then most certainly the next EPL game.

    Xhaka does not start for me I’d try the trio of Torreira, Guendouzi & Willok and see how it goes.

    Pepe Auba Saka

    Martinelli should get a good 30mins also.

    Mix it up abit and rotate with Bellerin coming off after 60mins and AMN comes on to see the game out. Something like that anyway

    1. 👍 Ceballos for Guendouzi, with Guendouzi off the bench for Willock or Ceballos, depending on the state of the game,

  14. This is not a selection headache. There are those doing well and those doing badly – you simply pick the ones doing well such as: Holding, Chambers, Geundozi, Willock, Saka, Auba, and you bench those doing badly like: Xhaka, Torreiera, Sokratis, Luiz and Pepe. Surely this is not rocket science? but our dumb manager will go for Xhaka and give himself uneccesary selection headache!

    1. It appears that selecting Xhaka only gives us problems in other positions. We , the fans, don`t need the headache why would the manager? It`s time to appoint a manager we can understand and have faith in, like Liverpool fans have with Kloppy.

  15. I may quit being arsenal fan because of lining up Xhaka
    Look when Xhaka was benched how arsenal performed in the Europa league
    against Standard Liedge the ball was supplied constantly at the penalty box simply because we had midfielders with full of creativity
    So please Xhaka must not even be benched or sold he must be sent for free

    1. Not sure that would be any great loss. If you believe that standard are anywhere close to premier league level you must be joking

  16. Our best 11 now;

    Martinez
    Mustafi..Mavropanos..Luiz..Tierney
    Torreira…Guendouzi…Ceballos
    Pepe…Aubameyang…Saka

  17. We can all have our opinions on Arsenal line ups to win matches and justifying them is easy but ,naming the XI that Emery will put out and justifying it,is a very different matter. We spent many years hopelessly trying to read Wenger`s mind and justifying his logic only to find we are doing it all over again. Boring!

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