Arsenal vs Chelsea: 5 key players in yet another necessary match

3. Granit Xhaka

I cannot speak enough about how important the battle of the midfields is in this one. And I can’t express it any better than in the different between the two Liverpool matches. In the first one, we controlled the midfield and looked the Reds’ equal. In the second, we lost the battle and crumbled into a fine powder.

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Chelsea have a good midfielder. Jorginho is a controller, Kante obviously a wrecker. Chances are there will be a third name in there too, likely Kovacic, but honestly, the third name isn’t nearly as important as the first two – two guys that will work together to do exactly what our two guys will hope to do.

Granit Xhaka is better than Jorginho. I have no qualms with saying that and I don’t care what other people think or what their arguments against that point may be.

That said, Xhaka needs to be at his best to control this game better than his counterpart controls theirs. Meaning that he has to be tidy in possession, in defense, in attack, in all of it. Ideally, he will have two midfielders alongside him to help out but even if it is only one, the responsibility is his to coordinate the battle of the midfields.

More on this later. For now, on to No. 2.