Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette may have to sit out North London Derby

Arsenal will have options a-plenty when they travel to Wembley to face Tottenham, but Alexandre Lacazette may be best left on the bench.

It may look like Arsenal are pushing Alexandre Lacazette to the side after such a short trial as their No. 1 striker. He scored nine goals and added three assists in his first half-season in the Premier League, and then in came Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Lacazette did not touch the pitch against Everton, as the game we well in hand, and now the question becomes what to do against Tottenham, in the biggest league match of the season, arguably even beyond that.

Unfortunately, it is looking like Lacazette may have to sit this one out as well, though again, this doesn’t mean that he has been relegated to substitute duties. This is just a special circumstance. I’d expect them both to play side by side in the weeks following.

Against Tottenham though, there are other factors at play. We handily put away the Spurs 2-0 at the Emirates earlier in the year. It was arguably the first big time breakthrough of the Granit Xhaka/Aaron Ramsey partnership and it put belief into this system of midfielders. They were supposed to be overrun by the Spurs, but did the opposite.

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Away from home is not going to be an easy match, but as we have proven, this midfield, despite the lack of an enforcer, can dominate possession by control and drive alone.

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The main reason that Lacazette needs to be left on the bench for this is because we need the passion and drive of Jack Wilshere out there, but we can’t sacrifice the electric inspiration of Aaron Ramsey. With the personnel that this club has, you either have to sacrifice Ramsey or Wilshere or you have to sacrifice Lacazette or Aubameyang.

In this case, with the primary theater of influence being in the midfield, you have to sacrifice Lacazette.

Spurs are not going to sit deep. They are going to go toe-to-toe with Arsenal and that often opens up the counter attack, which plays right into Aubameyang’s hands. That should be enough attacking punch in and of itself. From there, we just need the right players to find him, and that comes from midfield inspiration.

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Not just that, but if Aubameyang is left frustrated, it is vital to have another option off the bench, to allow us to go two strikers in a pinch, when a goal is needed. That is where Lacazette comes in. This is not a sign of what is to come. It is just a necessity of the match itself.

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