Official Arsenal Team News ahead of Sunday clash with Leeds United

Arsenal will play host to Leeds United on Sunday, and manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that Ben White could be in contention to return.

The Gunners were without their summer signing as they beat West Ham United 2-1 last weekend, with his replacement Rob Holding capping his outing with a Man of the Match performance.

That man Holding could well be set to make way however despite his showing, with White claimed to be ‘in contention’ to return, depending on how he trains tomorrow.

“Ben White is still in contention so he needs to train tomorrow to make sure that he’s available to play. Arteta told Arsenal Media in his pre-match press conference.

“For the rest, there’s no news, everybody should be okay.”

There was worries over both Bukayo Saka and Takehiro Tomiyasu also, with both having to be replaced during the win over the Hammers, but there appears to be no after-effects of their knocks and should both be in the starting line-up come Sunday.

If White isn’t at 100% then there is no reason to worry, while there is even a case for him to start on the bench regardless, with Holding having been in great form at both ends of the field in our most recent win.

Should Holding keep his place over White whether he is fit or not?

Patrick

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14 Comments

  1. Should be a huge Sunday!!!!!!!!! I cant see Liverpool losing to Spurs and i cant see anything other than an Arsenal win. That would be great.

    1. Yeah.
      A 4 -5 points gap into the NLD would put the initiative solidly in our hands and shift the pressure to Spurs
      COYG|

  2. Holding vs. White is an argument about speed vs. safety & lateral vs. horizontal defending.

    I’ve got enormous respect for Holding’s professionalism and definitely hope he remains a squad player for the immediate future. He’s come on to shore up the defense in several games this season as a third CB and done exactly that. He also adds aerial security & threat (as seen by his goal against the Hammers).

    Where he falls short is in his progressive play from the back. Rather than cutting through lines and playing forward, he prefers to pass sideways to Gabriel or Tomi/Cedric. I’m pretty confident this is the main reason why White is first-choice for Arteta (besides his pace). He wants us to break the opposition’s press early through these passes out of defense. It’s one of the reasons Leno lost his place to Ramsdale.

    This was one of the main failings of the late-Wenger era until this season. Very rarely did we stretch the play by passing beyond the nearest player. While I don’t agree with MA on everything, the fact that he’s trying to address this core issue gives him my vote, and hopefully another productive summer of transfers will leave the future looking bright. Sign Nkunku, Nunez, Tchouameni & a LB and we’ll actually be pushing for the title. It’ll only cost Kroenke 200mil haha.

    Finally, as terrifying as Tavares is at LB, I can’t shake the feeling that he might be an absolute beast if he gets converted into a LW. Clearly a total defensive liability but once he gets going on a charge upfield the game consistently opens up. Opposition defenders are scared of him and if we played to his strengths he could be a real asset.

    1. Great points – for 50m, I just think we could have gotten someone with more of Holding’s strengths to go along with those that White brings, but BW has done well in any case.

  3. Defensively, I don’t see a difference. But, White can play from the back better than holding and white drives forward better than holding.

  4. Football has evolved. therefore, to constantly be on the playing field, you must offer more than the primary.

    Which means has a defender, you must have the dribbling and the ball passing quality of a midfielder

    As a midfielder, the defensive and scoring quality of a defender and a striker

    As a striker, the defensive and passing quality of a defender and a midfielder.

    This is why some players who are good primarily at what they do, don’t get ahead of other players because of the extra…

  5. I’ve been banging on about an improved mentality. 100% required this weekend and until the end of the season. I don’t want egg on my face😬

  6. A bold strategy of starting the march with Holding and playing White from the bench has the advantage of exerting Holding and White to more competition to impress and for better reward to our team – Arsenal.

  7. All our expectations and predictions are based on Liverpool beating Spurs. Hope there is no surprise there.

  8. I really hope the ambitious arsenal shows up against Leeds,
    We can’t bank on Liverpool winning Tottenham, we need to do our part well.

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