It was a surreal feeling for the Gooners this past weekend when their team took on Manchester City without Arsene Wenger on the bench. The new era didn’t exactly begin the way Unai Emery and the fans would have wanted, but you can’t expect too much this early from an Arsenal team who are in transition.
It’s not going to get any easier this weekend as the Gunners take on a Chelsea side who themselves are under a new manager this season. Maurizio Sarri’s first game in charge ended with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield Town away from home and the fans will expect the team to get the better of Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
There wasn’t too much Arsenal did wrong against Manchester City though. Unlike last season where City just steamrolled the north Londoners, you could see that there was a bit of fight in the Arsenal team this time around and they’ll be hoping to improve this coming weekend.
Here’s how Arsenal could line up for the clash against Chelsea…
Defence
Cech had a pretty mixed game against Man City. Though he made a few brilliant saves, his distribution seemed pretty iffy and he nearly scored an own goal from a back pass. Could Leno start? Unlikely. Emery is likely to give Cech another chance, though Chelsea’s pressing under Sarri could give him a few more problems.
Sokratis and Mustafi are expected to start at the heart of the defence. The former’s passing wasn’t the best against Manchester City and his lack of pace was also pretty evident. He needs better protection from the midfielders this weekend.
Maitland-Niles gingerly walked off the pitch and isn’t expected to return, so we could see Lichtsteiner playing in the left-back slot once again. Hector Bellerin will continue on the right.
Midfield
Granit Xhaka had a tough time against the high press of Manchester City. Neither did he protect the back for nor did he provide an attacking impetus, so he needs to be dropped for someone like Lucas Torreira.
The Uruguayan has a better work rate and his distribution could be handy. Aaron Ramsey more composed on the ball than the likes of Xhaka and Guendouzi and he could partner Torreira in a two-man central midfield.
Mesut Ozil is perhaps best utilised in the number 10 role and should start there. He too had a mixed game last time as started off brilliantly but slowly faded away. He finished the game with two key passes last weekend.
Attack
We could see Aubameyang playing on the right this time. He has played there before for Dortmund and his pace will trouble Marcos Alonso. Alexandre Lacazette could lead the line while Mkhitaryan could continue on the left.
