Arsenal vs Sheffield United: 5 key players to see it through

2. Granit Xhaka

Again, love him or hate him, you have to understand how important he is to the team right now, and specifically, how important he is to the integrity of this midfield. I know many of you out there think we would be better off without him in the midfield, and instead going with something like Willock, Guendouzi and Torreira, but that’s dangerous.

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Really dangerous. Because no one in that trio introduces any sort of consistency or strength on the ball. They’re all high energy, get out of the way kind of midfielders. Xhaka’s benefit is and always has been that he can control a match and introduce stability to it. Which is vital to a team that can’t quite sort out its defense while simultaneously needing to create chances more consistently for the attack.

Xhaka has not found his form this year and we have suffered because of it, but as we saw last year, when he does find his form, he will be one of our best and most reliable players week in and week out. It’s just a matter of getting him over the hump and into his prime self.

Maybe the week of international play was enough to recenter the captain and get him back to his best. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Finally, No. 1.