What sort of Arsenal midfield will be selected to face Brighton?

There may not be many changes, if any, to the Arsenal midfield for the Brighton game.

The Arsenal midfield was quite poor against Norwich City on Sunday, in fact, it has been all season long and it needs sorting as a matter of urgency. However, I am not too sure that there will be too many changes against Brighton.

Freddie seems to have a soft spot for Joe Willock and I expect that he will retain his place despite a poor display against the Canaries.

The same applies to Matteo Guendouzi, for some reason he seems to have had the trust of Unai Emery and now, Freddie Ljungberg.

This is now going to sound like a broken record but I also do not see the Swede dropping Granit Xhaka. He did not play too badly on Sunday and probably deserves to keep his spot.

And then there is Mesut Ozil, well, guess what? I do not see the German being dropped either.

The bottom line is that I fully expect the midfield will be completely unchanged from the one we saw against Norwich City.

I actually can understand that to some extent. It creates a form of stability. Keeping the same midfield two games in a row is generally a good thing, especially with a new man in charge. It means that they can start to get used to each other’s movements and will create a better understanding of field placement as per Ljungbergs instructions.

It breeds confidence and the brutal truth is that there are not too many alternatives. Lucas Torreira looks a shadow of himself, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has not impressed too much when given a chance in the middle of the park and Dani Ceballos is injured.

So, the midfield for me will be Gunedouzi, Willock, Xhaka and Ozil.

14 Comments

  1. You cant win things with Kids. Guendouzi should not be a starter. This is not rocket science. You need matured experienced players. This is not the time for experiment. It is the time to get 3 points every single match. The best should be to have a midfield of just 6 players. Buy Rakitic and Thomas Partey in January. Ozil, Torrera, Thomas Partey, Rakitic, Xhaka and Ceballos. Loan out Guendouzi. He is not ready yet. We need consistency. Goal scoring midfielders like Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bryne. And not teenagers who are just starting. Till January transfer window. We should stick to a midfield 3 of XHAKA, OZIL AND TORRERA.

    LENO

    BELLERIN CHAMBERS LUIZ TIERNEY

    XHAKA TORRERA OZIL

    PEPE AUBAMEYANG MARTINELLI

    That should be our starting 11 for Premier league games. Lacazette as substitute.

      1. I look at midfielders like Bernado Silva, the guy is top quality. I saw the Kevin De Bryne wonder goal against New Castle, wow. we need goals across the midfield. We need Midfielders that are technically good. who take shots and score goals. tired of this passing and passing and hype. Our board need to go all out for Rakitic and Thomas Partey in January. Rakitic is top quality. I like Guendouzi, but he is not ready yet. we are in a position where we need to get 3 points week in week out. Every midfielder producing top quality football all thru 90 mins. This is not the time to experiment.

    1. I like your line up. I’ll replace Luiz with Holding though, and Xhaka with….. I dunno, maybe Guendouzi (we’re not spoilt for options in the midfield department really), or Chambers, if we were to start playing two DMs in front of our defence (given our frequent defensive lapses, it might actually be a good idea to try that). Lacazette can come on later, or drop Özil for him, if we were to go 4-4-2, with wide players and two DMs. Freddie should get creative with his (limited) options, and I believe the team would start performing well enough to earn the fan’s plaudits again

      1. I agree with you. I just feel the 433 is the best. Ljumberg should get the best out of Pepe. Pepe and Martinelli should be starters. Martinelli given a consistent run. The guy is good. I dont know why Saka should be starting ahead of Martinelli. Look at that Martinelli run against Norwich. His 2 goals against Liverpool. He reminds me of RVP. We can even play Pepe as a striker a times. 433 gives us width. I just want us to start winning games. We need that consistency from now on if we want to get top 4

  2. What midfield against Brighton ? (or any team come to that) ….. Hopefully one that, particularly OUT OF POSSESSION, banks up in front of the back 4 (such as it is).

    Not for the first time, and once again against Norwich, our central 2 in midfield were constantly ahead of the ball and left way out of position when Norwich broke.

    How many “on the break goals” do we concede per season ?

    Why we do not play Lucas deep not straying too far from in front of the the centre backs (i.e. his role for Uruguay) is baffling.

    1. Understand something. it is about midfield combination. i am not a fan of Xhaka. But We have to look at the best midfield combinations. what Central midfield partnership is best. Xhaka plays long balls. he does not dwell on the ball for too long. Torrera should be played in his natural Role which is DM. we need to device a means to transition quickly from defence to attack. I like Guendouzi. but from what i have seen, he cant be in the starting line up. he is slow and does not move the ball quicker enough. he is not ready yet to anchor our midfield. Ozil is a starter. So until we can get top quality players like Rakitic and or Thomas Partey, Xhaka should be partner Torrera in midfield.

      1. I hear people talk of xhaka long balls, when and where,?? all i is see is slow back passing or sideways passing….. If Niles was given a number of games playing at that midfield am sure he will be better than xhaka, i bet on that

  3. I would prefer Torreira to play in his original position of DM, along with Xhaka and Willock. Willock is good at direct runs. Also, I would prefer Martinelli and Pepe to support Auba upfront. Laca can come on as a substitute and start games when Auba is tired. But definitely Pepe and Torreira must start in their respective positions.

  4. Leno ,

    Holding, Chambers
    Tierny, Bellarin,

    Torriera ,
    Kolasniac , xacha,

    Pepe, Martinelli,

    Auba
    This would be my line up with Chambers and Holding commanding the centre of defence. Tierny and Bellarin as wingbacks with Torriera Kolasniac and Xacha DEFENDING the Back Four and pulling back into the spaces left by Tierny and Bellerin every time they bomb forward down the flanks. Xacha could feed balls into the channels and over the defence where , Pepe and Martinelli can sprint into this empty spaces and onto the through balls. This and Kolasniac bursting forward with those tank like lung busting runs at defenders. Torriera is there Solely to provide protection to the back four and break up attacks from the opposition.

    Martinelli, Pepe and Auba would be a frightening front three up front with their pace, trickery and power.

    Any one agree?

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