Arsenal vs Southampton Ideal Starting XI: Alex Iwobi Back

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mohamed Elneny

Part of the reason why I was so confused to see Mohamed Elneny out there against Bournemouth was because I fully expected him to be the anchor in this match. So, despite the fact that he ran his pants off, I’m still thinking that, ideally, the Egyptian will be given an encore performance against Southampton.

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His performance against the Cherries was mixed. The effort was there. It was so obvious. But he didn’t necessarily make a stamp on the game defensively or offensively. But that’s okay. Let’s see that effort keep coming and eventually, it will come off.

That is, if he has the legs to continue putting forth efforts like that.

Then there is the Ox. One of my favorite side campaigns is getting the Ox to play centrally. Everyone admits that it’s his natural position, yet against Reading he was played out wide and Ainsley Maitland-Niles was pushed deep.

Why? Let the Ox play where he wants to play while we can. Especially because it will give him good experience on defense, which will help in his new quest to be a fullback.

And now, the wide attackers.