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4-3-2-1: Xhaka axed, Elneny starts: My Arsenal XI to face Brighton

By on March 3, 2018

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Arsenal will need to put another turbulent week behind them when we take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Here is the team I would like to see Arsene Wenger select….

Goalkeeper: Cech

Cech once again missed out on his 200th clean sheet after conceding 3 against Man City on Thursday night. He wasn’t particularly at fault for any of the goals and I’d keep him in the side ahead of Ospina.

Defence: Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi, Kolasinac

Monreal is once again set to miss out as the Spaniard is struggling with a back injury that he picked up in the Carabao Cup final defeat last weekend so Kolasinac should keep his place at left-back despite an unconvincing performance on Thursday.

Our defence is a mess right now and as much as we’ve seen individual errors throughout the campaign, I think it’s as much down to poor coaching as it is the players.

Mustafi has been woeful lately but I wouldn’t trust Holding or Chambers to do any better so I’d stick with the German alongside Koscielny and Bellerin obviously at right-back.

Midfield: Elneny, Wilshere, Ramsey

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…..Xhaka needs to be dropped. He just isn’t the player we need as he’s not a typical defensive midfielder and we need someone to sit in front of the vulnerable back four.

Elneny isn’t the long-term answer but he’s the best we’ve got right now so I’d go with him in the holding role as he can also drop in to defence to make a three/five when we’re not in possession.

Wilshere returned to full training today after missing the City game with a minor knock so it looks like he’s back in contention and I’d recall him alongside Ramsey in midfield.

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Attack: Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang

I’ve seen suggestions that Wenger should rest our key players for the AC Milan game. I do agree to an extent but the players confidence is rock bottom and they need to play to regain their mo-jo. So I’d stick with our best eleven as a win ahead of the Milan clash would do the squad the world of good.

Aubameyang will have been gutted to miss his penalty but he can make amends against Brighton as he’s certain to start tomorrow due to his ineligibility in the Europa League.

Ozil and Mkhitaryan were both extremely poor against City so they need to step-up big time to make the team tick. Ozil in particular has been a huge disappointment since he signed his new deal so he needs to pull his finger out.

Welbeck was shocking on Thursday so I’d drop him to give us an extra man in midfield but he’ll be an option on the bench along with Iwobi. Lacazette is obviously still out with a knee injury.

This is the team I hope we see: