Arsenal: Major Changes In Predicted Starting XI To Face Sunderland

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(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images) /

Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Oh me, oh my, my optimism is really getting to me. This is a ridiculous prediction and I’m not sure how much I even buy into it. With each word, I am contemplating going back and changing it, but I’m going to stand strong and have faith.

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My logic is simple here, but I don’t know if Wenger will see it the same way. Iwobi has been frustrated and Walcott is suddenly hurt. So the logical thing to do would be just give them both a seat.

Thanks to our sudden lack of depth out wide, that leaves little options, but we don’t really even need any more options than what we have. Ox has been impressing. So send him out there and let him do his thing.

The reason I have pulled Alexis back is because Sunderland is probably going to sit deep and invite pressure, like Boro did. To avoid the frustration of seeing Alexis abandon his post up front, it would be far more beneficial to just be one step ahead of the Chilean and start him in the midfield, where we will probably need more creativity due to Cazorla’s absence anyway.

It’s not as crazy as it seems. So let’s keep going.