Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Watford: Predicted starting XI – The muddled midfield

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 28: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal in action during the Emirates Cup match between Arsenal and Olympique Lyonnais at the Emirates Stadium on July 28, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 28: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal in action during the Emirates Cup match between Arsenal and Olympique Lyonnais at the Emirates Stadium on July 28, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, David Luiz
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 24: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and David Luiz of Arsenal have a discussion after during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC at Anfield on August 24, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /

Centre-Backs

Another more straightforward position to predict is centre-half. While Rob Holding returned to first-team training during the international break, Unai Emery will stick with the starting pair of the last three matches, David Luiz alongside Sokratis.

Neither have been especially convincing so far this season, Luiz commiting two howling mistakes in a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool and Sokratis not exactly covering himself glory for Spurs’ opener in the North London Derby, but there is a real dearth of alternative options at present, meaning both will continue to anchor the backline.

Holding will likely begin to push both for a starting role once he finds his match fitness, which will come through appearances in the Europa League, but that time is still some way off just yet. For now, Sokratis and Luiz are your starting centre-backs.