Arsenal vs Brighton predicted XI: Don’t expect anything major

Centerback

This is where things get dicey, because this is where things always get dicey. There is not a centerback pair I can heartily endorse as the solution. Calum Chambers and Rob Holding would be fun, or working Konstantinos Mavropanos back into the mix could be nice, but who can you absolutely say you have confidence in as a partnership?

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No one.

Which makes Freddie Ljungberg’s job even harder because he’s feeling the same. There just isn’t a lot of confidence here.

That said, David Luiz will start, because David Luiz always starts, and I guess in the grand scheme, I can’t fault that decision too much. The guy is seasoned and outspoken, that counts for something. It’s usually the choice of partner that implodes the defense anyway.

Which is where it gets hard to choose. I want to believe that Freddie has the gumption to swap for Dinos or Holding, but I just don’t I think that, having given Mustafi a hack, he will revert to Sokratis, which will leave me banging my head on the wall.

Midfield is next.