Failing to win their game in hand at Manchester City, Arsenal head to Brighton with three points a necessity.
Although a win would push the Gunners above Tottenham and level on points with Wolves, their inferior goal difference of six would require a dramatic turn of events to see them leapfrog Nuno Espirito Santo’s side into seventh.
The 3-0 defeat at the Etihad on Wednesday [June 17] left Mikel Arteta with way more questions than answers, but once again Bernd Leno proved his importance to the Spaniard. As was the case before the break, the goalkeeper was exceptional and left no doubt that he will stay between the sticks at the AMEX stadium.
It was in central defence where the main questions arose, however, as Pablo Mari [injury] and David Luiz [red card] were forced to early exits. Considering how important the former being left-footed was to Arteta’s plans, how he replaces Mari will be interesting.
As reported by football.london on Friday, Under-23s centre-back Zech Medley is set time travel to the south coast. As Arsenal’s only available left-footer that is natural at centre-back this may give him a better chance to start than usual.
Without much first team experience, however, it is more likely that Arteta will opt for Rob Holding to partner Shkodran Mustafi at centre-back. Especially as Holding was used in the warm-up friendlies ahead for City.
They will be flanked by Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney who may have more licence to express themselves than on Wednesday.
Arteta will have more problems to solve in midfield following Granit Xhaka’s injury in Manchester. The 4-3-3 appeared to be a very specific plan for City so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him revert to a 4-2-3-1. Should that be the case, Dani Ceballos partnering Matteo Guendouzi seems likely as they may balance each other well.
With the amount of substitutes available to him, however, there will be opportunities to get Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the pitch if a change is needed.
Despite being left out of the squad on Wednesday, it appears that Mesut Ozil will be in the squad for Brighton which could see him slot back into the No.10 role.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will take his usual position off the left but as Nicolas Pepe has spent the past week or so recovering from injury, Bukayo Saka could be handed another chance to start off the right wing.
That’ll leave Eddie Nketiah to lead the line once again in place of Alexandre Lacazette.
Nketiah was promising early on at the Etihad which didn’t go unnoticed by Arteta who said: "I want him to keep doing what he's doing. The way he played last night against those players, in those difficult conditions, for me is extraordinary at his age. He has an immense personality to play, confidence, he's powerful and is developing in every area I think. I have a lot of faith in him."
Predicted Arsenal XI: Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Tierney; Guendouzi, Ceballos; Saka, Ozil, Aubameyang; Nketiah
