Arsenal vs Napoli predicted XI: Coping without Granit Xhaka

Midfield

I’m still terrified of what this midfield becomes with Granit Xhaka isn’t there. It seemed mild at first, his absence, and then we went on the road to Goodison and were completely eviscerated with a shockingly inept midfield pairing of Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny. Neither is good enough to cover Xhaka’s absence, at least not yet.

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

As such, I would not be surprised to see them both left out against Napoli, as Emery is going to need to emphasize the importance of winning the midfield battle. The pairing that had been doing that job was Aaron Ramsey and Xhaka, but with that unavailable, he’ll have to think of something else.

Lucas Torreira has just returned from suspension, and given that he is going to be hungrier and fitter than he has been all year, it stands to reason that he’ll be the guy to start this one.

Next to him, it has to be Ramsey. Who else are you going to trust? We know Guendouzi doesn’t combine well with Torreira, and Elneny is as limited as they come, so the options have whittled themselves down.

It’s an active midfield, if nothing else, and that definitely counts for something.

Let’s move on to that front three.