Arsenal vs BATE Borisov: 5 key players to make this easy

1. Alex Iwobi

I was hard on Alex Iwobi after the Huddersfield match, despite the undeniable fact that, for the first half, he was a key figure. The second half just rubbed me the wrong way, as he started to look like his old self all over again, and I always get irritated when when the old Iwobi comes out to play, especially so soon after seeing his most effective self, like we did in the first half.

But in the spirit of fairness, he played well, and I would be surprised to see him excluded from the starting XI against BATE Borisov. Especially seeing as how he has the same benefit as Guendouzi – he’s young and can handle the increased workload of playing twice a week, even if there isn’t a match at the weekend.

Iwobi still isn’t creating the chances that we need to from him, and if he is lined up opposite Denis Suarez, as I think he might be, the pressure should be on for him to step it up or see his opportunities limited more than ever before.

And again, this depends highly on the formation that Emery goes for, but whatever the case, someone has to create the chances and I do think that Iwobi has the ability to be that guy if only he can step up to the plate and actually deliver.