Arsenal vs Wolverhampton predicted starting XI: Please.
By Josh Sippie
Wingbacks
There hasn’t been a question about who will start in these two roles, and there won’t be until Hector Bellerin returns from injury. That’s a good thing. If nothing else, it means there is one position on the pitch that Unai Emery knows he can count on to deliver results time and time again, and that’s what Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles provide for the club.
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But we saw against Crystal Palace why it’s so important for them to stay together. Because as we sort of figured out not long ago, the benefit to having them both is that one could falter and the other would pick up the slack.
Kolasinac faltered against Palace and Maitland-Niles wasn’t there to pick up the slack, so the wingbacks didn’t work out the way we needed them too.
That will change against Wolverhampton. With both Maitland-Niles and Kolasinac out there, we have a fighting chance at winning both flanks and, if not, at least one of them. Meaning that we’ll be able to rely on useful balls from wide angles. At least one of those angles, I should say.
And besides, once we win the battle in the midfield, these two will have more freedom and more space. Speaking of which, let’s talk about the midfield.