The big question ahead of the match with Brighton was who would come in for the injured Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder suffered a serious knee injury in the north London derby, and he will be missing for approximately 3 months.
Two clear options were available to Mikel Arteta. The first was to keep the same formation used to beat Spurs and make a like for like replacement for Xhaka. The second, change the formation by reverting to the 4-3-3 used to beat Burnley two weekends ago.
For me, you do not try to fix something that isn’t broken, and Arsenal have been a side in the last half-to-full decade that lacked stability.
Aaron Ramsdale and the established back four have brought that to the team and with the defence fixed, spreading that stability forwards would only be beneficial.
Without European football this season, there is an opportunity to play the strongest side in most, if not all, of the league games this season barring any injuries.
It is therefore pleasing to see the structure of the side unchanged from the north London derby. Sambi Lokonga, the Belgian international, was the immediate choice and it is thankful to see him start his first league fixture with Thomas Partey.
The hope will be that the pair can develop their own partnership like the established defence.
This single switch means that the Arsenal attacking quartet are maintained and certainly deserve it after Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka notched a goal and assist each in the Spurs win.
One of the key necessities for Arsenal to mount a challenge on their ambitions this season falls to Pierre Emerick Aubameyang to find his form and score consistently again. He has 5 goals so far this season, 2 in the league but scoring successively is what Arteta will be hoping for.
Should Arsenal manage to secure a fourth successive league win it would close them within just two points of Manchester United and more importantly the top four.
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