Arsenal: Holding And Chambers Starting Could Be A Positive

Calum Chambers and Rob Holding are Arsenal’s only fit center backs at present. Arsene Wenger could make a bold choice against Liverpool and start them both.

Arsenal are currently in the midst of an injury crisis after Gabriel Paulista went down with a ligament injury in Arsenal’s 3-2 friendly victory over Manchester City.

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Gabriel‘s injury is not one that will keep him out for long, but it compounded the trouble that had been created by Per Mertesacker’s injury and Laurent Koscielny‘s need of a rest following his lengthy run with France at EURO 2016.

Last season it was clear that Arsenal needed to purchase a new central defender to shore up their defense in preparation for a tough Premier League campaign.

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When Arsenal brought in Gabriel Paulista it was a step in the right direction in terms of gaining squad depth, but the Brazilian center half is not yet the player Arsenal need that can play alongside Laurent Koscielny in a “world-class” defense.

So, now that they are in need of a central defender for more reason than one, it’s abundantly clear that Gabriel was not the solution.

A defender the likes of Shkodran Mustafi needs to be brought in.

However, for the moment, Arsenal could have a solution to their first match against Liverpool – and it’s staring them in the face.

Arsene Wenger: take a chance, make a bold decision, and play Rob Holding and Calum Chambers as a central defense pairing in your first Premier League match.

New arrival Rob Holding is no high profile signing, but he has looked very confident during pre-season and seems to have settled into the Arsenal squad immediately.

Calum Chambers, his potential partner, played a game against Daniel Sturridge and co. almost a year ago, and he kept a clean sheet and put in a brilliant defensive performance.

There are advantages to playing both of these center backs against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

Both Holding and Chambers are relatively quick, which means that they are more capable of coping with the attacking runs of the Liverpool strike force than someone like Mertesacker, who would be dealing with balls over his head all day.

Both of these defenders are young and English, which could create a level of communication between them that Gabriel doesn’t have with other defenders.

Fans have seen that Chambers is very good in the tackle, and a lot of the Liverpool forwards, both old and new, like to run with the ball – which means that provided he is confident he will be able to deal with them.

Holding has also shown himself to be a good tackler, but this will be his first Premier League match and that could mean he might get nervous to go into some challenges.

Chambers’ weakness is that he is not the best in the aerial duel. But, aside from corners, Jurgen Klopp‘s Reds prefer to keep the ball on the ground and avoid a lot of crossing.

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Providing these two central defenders don’t make glaring errors passing the ball, giving them a chance could be one decision Arsene Wenger won’t regret.