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Home   >   Opinions   >   [Image] Koscielny out, Jenkinson starts | How Arsenal should line-up to face Brighton

[Image] Koscielny out, Jenkinson starts | How Arsenal should line-up to face Brighton

By on May 4, 2019

Arsenal can close the gap on Tottenham to just one point with a win over Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. This is the line-up I’d like Unai Emery to select…

Goalkeeper: Leno

Bernd Leno will return in goal after Petr Cech started in our Europa League semi-final first leg victory over Valencia on Thursday night.

Defence: Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal

Laurent Koscielny limped off during the latter stages of the game in midweek after aggravating his long-standing Achilles problem. Some reports suggest the Frenchman should be fit to feature against Brighton but I wouldn’t risk him. Certainly not from the start anyway.

Brighton like to play with two strikers up front so Arsenal should play with three centre-backs to help deal with them. Therefore, Nacho Monreal should be recalled to start alongside Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi.

Midfield: Jenkinson, Xhaka, Torreira, Kolasinac

Ainsley Maitland-Niles is suspended following his harsh dismissal against Leicester City last weekend so we have a void to fill at right wing-back. Stephan Lichtsteiner could be in Emery’s thoughts but I’d prefer we go with Carl Jenkinson. The thought of Lichtsteiner and Mustafi starting is too much for my heart to take.

pierre-emerick aubameyang arsenal

Sead Kolasinac should once again start in the left wing-back position while I hope we see Lucas Torreira recalled to start alongside Granit Xhaka in the middle of the park. Matteo Guendouzi has been in a slump for a while so I’d prefer to see him on the bench. Obviously Aaron Ramsey has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury but Mo Elneny should be on the bench.

Attack: Ozil, Aubameyang, Lacazette

I thought Mesut Ozil had a decent game against Valencia. He worked hard defensively, kept our attacks moving and played some lovely passes so I see no reason why he shouldn’t start against Brighton. It’s a home game which we HAVE to win so we need our most creative player on the pitch.

Alexandre Lacazette scored two on Thursday night and he was excellent overall but he should probably have scored four goals to put the tie to bed. Thankfully Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a late volley to secure the 3-1 win as 2-1 would have been a very dangerous result.

I hope the Arsenal boss sticks with our main two strikers and resists the temptation to rest either of them ahead of the Europa League second leg in Spain on Thursday night. We can not afford to slip up against Brighton as a win would move us to within just one point of Tottenham so let’s go with our big guns and blow them away.

Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eddie Nketiah will be options from the bench if needed but Denis Suarez has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a groin injury.

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

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