Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Aston Villa: Predicted starting XI – Reiss Nelson anyone?

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 28: Reiss Nelson 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: Reiss Nelson 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, Dani Ceballos
WATFORD, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 15: Dani Ceballos of Arsenal in action during the Premier League match between Watford FC and Arsenal FC at Vicarage Road on September 15, 2019 in Watford, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

Central Midfield

Perhaps the most interesting position to try and decipher at present is central midfield. Unai Emery has a surprising number of options, especially with Mesut Ozil’s return to the fray last weekend, and with his tactic tinkering, it is conceivable that he could field up to four central midfielders in any one team. That makes predicting what he will do very difficult indeed.

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Nevertheless, now that the season is entering its normal rigours, most of the players are match-fit, and the Europa League has started, revealing at least a little of what Emery’s thinking might be, there is a little bit of guesswork that can be done that is not completely unfounded.

So, Matteo Guendouzi has been Arsenal’s best central midfielder so far this season. He also did not play a single minute on Thursday. Expect him to start. In that same vein, Dani Ceballos only came on from the bench midway through the second half. Also expect him to start.

That leaves one position remaining, which is most likely the deepest lying central midfielder. Despite his lacklustre performances and defensive calamities, Emery seems to trust Granit Xhaka in this role. Sadly, I do not expect this to change any time soon. So Xhaka starts too.