Arsenal Vs Southampton: Predicted starting XI – More Mesut Ozil?

Central Midfield

With me predicting that Unai Emery will play with a back four, that leaves six attacking positions. On Thursday, he played an out-and-out 4-2-3-1 with two holding players and two wingers. But Alexandre Lacazette was not available for selection after his red card in the first leg. That changes things a little.

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With Lacazette re-introduction, — I presume he will start up front — I expect Emery to change his line-up slightly, from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 diamond. That gives three central midfielders, which I believe will be Lucas Torreira, who will almost certainly start after being rested in the week, Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi.

The reason I think Emery will go with this kind of system is because of the dual-striking presence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lacazette and the number of minutes that both Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi have played recently — Mkhitaryan, moreover, has only just returned from a knee injury and will need to be managed carefully.

Wide options are limited for Emery. Shifting to a 4-4-2 diamond solves that problem somewhat. It is far from a perfect system, but for the remainder of the year, it is probably the best one for this collection of players.