Arsenal vs Napoli predicted XI: Coping without Granit Xhaka

Wingbacks

Nothing went right against Everton. Not a thing. I was pleasantly surprised that Unai Emery gave the three-back set a shot to take home the points on the road, but it was set up to fail with key missing personnel and key questionable inclusions.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

I didn’t expect the wingbacks to fail so heavily. Both Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were helpless to change the fate of the match, and it left the team with yet another weakness on the pitch, as they couldn’t establish width or usefulness and the pairing was broken up with Kolasinac’s early second-half withdrawal.

That was the odd match out, though. Both Kolasinac and Maitland-Niles have been consistently terrific all year long as long as they’ve been together, so the one match where they weren’t isn’t a harbinger of the end of times, it’s just the anomaly.

Look for them to get back to their best against the azzurri, and not a moment too soon, because we need their creative juices and athleticism in a match that we will hope to dominate physically.

Let’s move into the biggest question mark of all – the midfield.