Arsenal Vs Liverpool: The Granit Xhaka gauntlet

Liverpool come to the Emirates on Friday night in a pivotal Premier League match-up. Last time out, the Merseysiders carved open the Arsenal midfield with blistering pace and precision. This will be the biggest test of Granit Xhaka’s season.

Granit Xhaka has a few serious and obvious flaws.

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He is horribly one-footed, relying solely on his left foot to control and distribute the ball. He lacks a natural reading of the game, especially when defending, rarely aware of where the danger is developing. He is painfully slow, both over a longer range in covering vast space against counter-attacks and over short, sharp distances where his agility, balance and turning-circle is greatly challenged. He lacks calmness and composure when put under pressure by a high-energy opposition.

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The problem for Arsenal, as they prepare to welcome Liverpool to the Emirates on Friday night is an extremely simple one: The personnel that Jurgen Klopp has assembled, the strategies and tactics that he has implemented, and the style and the manner that his side plays in perfectly expose the shortcomings of Xhaka. From an Arsenal perspective, it is a very scary proposition indeed.

Take last time out, as an example. Liverpool won the game 4-0. In all honesty, the scoreline was kind to Arsenal. It could, and should, have been a whole lot more. The reason for the Reds’ dominance came from their control of the midfield. With the surging pace and power of Georginio Wijnaldum, the striding, domineering presence of Emre Can, as well as the subtle, drifting, roaming movements of Roberto Firmino, Saido Mane and Mohamed Salah, who, collectively, made up the blisteringly frightening front three, it was too much for the Arsenal midfield to keep tabs on. They were overrun at an alarming level.

It is not fair to pin all of those problems on Xhaka. Football is a team sport. And he was afforded little help from those around him. Aaron Ramsey, for example, was subbed off at half-time, with Arsene Wenger clearly unhappy with lack of positional discipline. Francis Coquelin, a far more defensively-minded player, was his replacement.

But Xhaka will again be the Gunners’ anchoring midfielder on Friday night, this time partnered by Jack Wilshere. That is not a situation that offers confidence in the team’s stability and security. There have been far more examples than just the 4-0 dismantling that point to Xhaka’s inability to protect and structure a midfield.

Against lesser sides that are happy to sit off Arsenal, giving them time and space on the ball, even though their starting position is much deeper, Xhaka flourishes. His long-range passing is masterful. His tempo-setting distribution is neat and tidy, if sometimes frustratingly inconsistent, especially late in games, and he is growing in his understanding of his position and role. But that is not the type of game that Liverpool will play.

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Klopp is a high-energy, heavy-metal manager. He likes chaos and confusion. He likes break-neck speed. He likes intensity. He likes aggression, front-footed defending, impressing his will on the opponent. That is not the game that Xhaka likes. In fact, it is the total opposite. This is the Swiss’ gauntlet.