Arsenal took on Aston Villa in a friendly in ahead of the tie with Fulham, using an attacking quartet, and we could well be set to scrap the back five.
Our club ended the previous season in fine form, whilst operating in a 3-4-3 formation, and it was always thought that a back four would be the intention in the long-term.
That change could well be closer than we thought, with Aston Villa getting a first look at our use of Willian, Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette all in the same side.
It would now not be a huge shock to see us switch to what could be a 4-2-3-1 formation, utilising those four stars up front, although our attack was hardly the issue last season.
Arteta’s decision to add to his defensive minded players last term was down to a number of reasons, including the loss of Bernd Leno, and the erroneous decisions made by Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz, while our midfield was also lacking in giving our back line enough cover also.
We are yet to change any personnel in midfield this summer, with Dani Ceballos returning on another loan spell, although Mo Elneny has returned from his loan and could well be given a chance to prove his worth.
The Egyptian could well be of the perfect mould to fill the deeper midfield role which could aid our transition back into a back-four.
Possible 4-2-3-1 line-up to take on Fulham:
Leno
AMN Holding Saliba Tierney
Elneny Xhaka
Pepe Willian Aubameyang
Lacazette
I personally feel we wont jump into the new season with the new formation, but once we add the likes of Thomas Partey to the squad, and have more options fit and available in defence, this sort of line-up could be used more and more often into the new campaign.
Would you like to see us back playing 4-2-3-1 or has our trophy-winning 3-4-3 grown on you enough to deserve to stay?
Patrick
