Arsenal vs Eintracht Frankfurt predicted XI: What is a ‘win’?

Arsenal will look to figure out what a win is as they face down Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. Here is how they should line up.

Arsenal may not be able to win in the Premier League but the Europa League has been different. If you don’t count their pallid 1-1 draw against Vitoria last time out. Up until that point they had been perfect, and next up is Eintracht Frankfurt.

For starters, last time the Gunners put down Frankfurt, they didn’t get enough credit. They had just come off three straight questionable results, losing to Liverpool 3-1, blowing a 2-0 lead against Watford to draw 2-2, then clawing back against Spurs to draw 2-2. Frankfurt were coming in with a full head of steam and they were and still are a dangerous team.

The Gunners put them down with ease. And I mean ease. 3-0 with Frankfurt also notching a red card spelled a day that they would rather forget, and one of the few days that Gooners are keen to remember.

As this is another home match, you can bet that fans will be on their “best” behavior for this one. They will be ready to react no matter how the match is going, and as such, Unai Emery is yet again up against it to prove that he shouldn’t be fired immediately, even though some feel he’s already on borrowed time.

Whatever the case, the Europa League is still in good shape, with the Gunners conclusively leading the group, and that being the case, we can probably expect more of the same. That is, assuming that Emery sticks to his guns and players the players that he hasn’t lost yet. Or so we/I hope.

There are actually a lot of questions to address in this starting XI, particularly with the midfield and how Emery plans to navigate that situation, so let’s get right to it. I’m feeling a 3-4-3 here, since a back three is apparently the bet that Unai Emery is willing to stake his career on.

We will start in goal.

Keeper

Emi Martinez has done a great job in the midweek fixtures, and while nothing has conclusively proven that he is better than Bernd Leno, nor will it, it’s nice to know that we have someone here who’s trying to prove himself and won’t let anything fall to chance.

On to the back three