Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette return gives follow-up chance

Arsenal’s appeal of Alexandre Lacazette’s suspension has seen the three match ban ended early, making him available to face Rennes. Hello, deficit.

Arsenal weren’t supposed to have Alexandre Lacazette for the return leg against Rennes, as that was to be his third match in a three-match band. But UEFA, clearly not taking a page from the FA’s book, has smiled upon the Gunners and granted them the Frenchman’s services for the return leg.

Honestly, Rennes have a right to feel hard done, but life is life, and we will have Lacazette whether they like it or not. Which changes things drastically for the return leg, such that the Predicted XI that I went for earlier today no longer feels right.

Because I don’t see why you wouldn’t start Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang together again, the same as we did against Manchester United.

Unai Emery has made a habit of not repeating the same strategies in consecutive games, which initially led me to opt for the 4-2-3-1, but mostly that was because Lacazette was not supposed to be playing.

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Now that he is playing, and with how well the 3-5-1-2  performed against United, I’m in half a mind to say, for the first time this season, “let’s just do that again.”

What will likely happen is that Emery will stick with a four-back set, simply to change things up and keep things fresh and unpredictable. He’ll hold back one striker, probably Lacazette, to be the injection late in the match, should we need it (but hopefully we won’t).

Still, the possibility of sending out two strikers, at home, in front of Mesut Ozil and deadly wingbacks, would be the most delectable thing since, well, since it happened a few days ago.

The two striker set hasn’t always worked, and Emery has given it a fair shot at succeeding, but against inferior opposition in a match where possession will be controlled by the likes of Ozil and Granit Xhaka, the pros of starting both of them together again far outweigh the negatives.

You can’t have too much attacking power early on, and your two best attackers just happen to be strikers, so why not overload in the name of getting this match into friendly territory as soon as possible?

Time will tell. Emery really doesn’t like repeating formations and strategies, so I’ll be curious to see how he handles this little boost.