Arsenal vs Bournemouth predicted starting XI: Safe for Mesut Ozil?

Fullbacks

There are suddenly a lot of options to pick from here, with Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Ainsley Maitland-Niles all healthy and, hopefully, available. Emery said a little bit ago that he hoped all would be ready, even Lichtsteiner, who picked up a knock against Southampton.

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And yet, it is none of them that I am predicting will start at rightback, because I saw what happened against Southampton, and, like scales falling from my eyes, I see the light, and I hope that Emery does too.

Shkodran Mustafi should start at rightback. Not just because I’m trying to be clever, but because , with Lichtsteiner and Maitland-Niles only just returning, it’s not exactly a good time to be throwing them into the fray with such a crucial match waiting at the weekend.

It’s actually a safer play to let Mustafi play the role. It’s a role I never considered him playing, but one that he actually did quite well with against the Saints, and one that, given the skill set required, seems to favor him.

Opposite him, I would think that Monreal gets the start, spotting Kolasinac a break so that he can be ready to bulldoze some potatoes on Saturday.

Onto the midfield pairing.