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Home   >   Opinions   >   [Image] Arsenal’s best 4-2-3-1 line-up to face Leicester: No Xhaka, Ozil starts

[Image] Arsenal’s best 4-2-3-1 line-up to face Leicester: No Xhaka, Ozil starts

By on November 7, 2019

mesut ozil arsenal 2018

Arsenal need a positive result against Leicester at the King Power on Saturday or our top four hopes will be severely dented. This is the line-up I’d like Unai Emery to select…

The boss rotated his squad for the Europa League draw with Vitoria on Wednesday but sadly we didn’t see the free-flowing football we’ve been used to in Europe as it was a woeful display in Portugal.

Emery will recall several players at the weekend and Bernd Leno should return between the sticks with Emi Martinez making way. However, the big change I hope we see is the return of a back four as the back three experiment failed miserably.

Hector Bellerin is set to start in the Premier League as he wasn’t used against Vitoria while David Luiz will also be recalled having been given the night off. Sokratis should probably keep his place ahead of Rob Holding while Shkodran Mustafi will drop out of the squad.

Kieran Tierney has started in Arsenal’s last two matches so Emery may recall Sead Kolasinac on Saturday. I thought it was a big error from Emery to start Tierney in the Europa League as he should have been saved for the Leicester game. As long as he’s recovered well, I’d still start Tierney this weekend as he’s miles better than Kolasinac and we desperately need a win.

No Xhaka

Arsenal’s options in midfield are limited as Dani Ceballos is a major doubt to face Leicester after being forced off with a hamstring injury against Vitoria but I’d still resist the temptation to recall Granit Xhaka after he was stripped of the captaincy.

nicolas pepe arsenal

Emery may decide to put Xhaka on the bench if Ceballos is ruled out but I hope we see Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira recalled to start in midfield against Leicester with Joe Willock dropping out.

Mesut Ozil should be recalled after being rested for the Vitoria game. We have absolutely no creative flair without Ozil – as proved on Wednesday – so we need him in the team if we’re to create enough chances to win this weekend. I get that he’s a luxury player which makes it tough away to the better teams but let’s be honest, it’s not like we’re rock solid defensively when Ozil doesn’t play so what have we got to lose by playing him in tricky away games?

Obviously Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be recalled in attack while I hope we see him playing alongside Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe. Let’s play our best front three with Ozil as it’s the only hope we have of out-scoring Leicester. Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Reiss Nelson are all options from the bench.

This is the starting eleven I hope we’ll see from Arsenal:

football formations