Arsenal vs Southampton predicted XI: Don’t be nervous

Centerbacks

As always, the centerback combination is the greatest point of consternation. Not because we don’t have the talent to put together a formidable defense, but because Unai Emery doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp on what his best defense is. And maybe I don’t know yet either, because we definitely haven’t seen it yet.

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All season long, Unai Emery has been rolling with David Luiz and Sokratis. And it’s been some kind of awful. Not least of all because there is no future between the two of them. We need to introduce our younger talent into the fray sooner rather than later, and since Luiz and Sokratis haven’t been doing a great job, it feels overdue.

Against Leicester, Emery did some wonderful things. He benched Sokratis and, in his place, started both Calum Chambers and Rob Holding on either side of Luiz in a back three. Naturally, the back three wasn’t what was expected (or wanted), but I loved the long-needed willingness to start the two Englishmen.

In this one, with a fresh perspective, and given the individual performances we’ve seen lately, I think we’ll see Emery stick to the script of leaving Sokratis on the bench in favor of Calum Chambers, with Luiz starting alongside.

Overall, it’s a positive defensive situation and I look forward to seeing them gain some confidence here.

Midfield is next.