Arsenal Vs Liverpool: Anyone but Granit Xhaka

At the heart of the Arsenal midfield, Granit Xhaka’s style is effective against a multitude of opponents. Unfortunately for him, playing against Liverpool at Anfield is not one of them.

Granit Xhaka offers plenty of desirable qualities to the Arsenal squad, patience and long-range passing being the most beneficial and obvious among them. One thing that he lacks, however, is mobility, and a lack of mobility will prove detrimental against a Liverpool side at Anfield.

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Xhaka is a bit like Mesut Ozil. In the right situations, against the right teams, he can be ideal. He can impose his will on quite literally every player on the opposing side, dominating the opposition through consistent and clever distribution from deep-lying positions.

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Playing at Anfield, however, is not that situation.

Watching Liverpool play big games at home is remarkable. It seems like they are possessed: sprinting literally everywhere, stopping at nothing to win the ball back whether they’d been running for 88 minutes or 88 seconds. It was quite jarring watching Liverpool as an Arsene Wenger-led-Arsenal fan, as Liverpool’s style and swagger at home completely decimated Arsenal in the two recent meetings there: a 4-0 defeat two seasons ago and a 5-1 defeat last season, though last season was under Unai Emery, to be fair, though many of the hallmarks of that defeat were extremely Wengerian.

To put it simply, the Arsenal midfield duo, trio, or quartet against Liverpool needs to be able to match Liverpool’s physical intensity. And Xhaka does not fit that profile.

Xhaka is at his best when he has space. He is adept at finding pockets in the layer directly above the Arsenal defense, settling, turning, and distributing upfield, whether that’s 10 yards away to Lucas Torreira or 60 yards away to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Unfortunately for him, Liverpool do not allow those pockets in the opponent’s half for more than a few seconds. If Xhaka tries to settle and turn, I can guarantee that, more times than not, he’ll be turning directly into Roberto Firmino, Georginio Wijnaldum, or any number of possessively pressing Liverpool defenders, and we all know what will happen next.

Assuming Arsenal run either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, Xhaka will be competing among Lucas Torreira, Dani Ceballos, Matteo Guendouzi, and Joe Willock for a spot in the midfield. Torreira’s tenacity is an absolute must against Liverpool, and clearly last week it was obvious that Ceballos is the best midfielder in Europe. Put down your pitchforks; I’m kidding. Mostly.

That likely leaves Xhaka competing with Guendouzi and Willock for a spot as the anchor of the midfield. The youthful energy and intricate style of both young midfielders provide each of them with a sizeable selection advantage over the more patient nature that Xhaka commands. Sure, Xhaka’s maturity is valuable against an aggressive Liverpool side, but he likely won’t have an opportunity to showcase his awareness and vision with Liverpool’s midfield poaching him at every turn, literally.

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Xhaka does plenty of things well and has shown countless times that he can command a game. But in this setting, against this opponent, Xhaka should be left among the substitutes in favor of a tenacious, mobile midfield platoon that can combat Liverpool’s aggression and, at a minimum, minimize the risk of succumbing to the high press.