Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

Arsenal Vs Brighton: Predicted starting XI – Are we on?

By Andrew Dowdeswell

Arsenal, Dani Ceballos (Photo by Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images )
Arsenal, Dani Ceballos (Photo by Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images ) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 27: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal FC reacts during the UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg match between Arsenal FC and Olympiacos FC at Emirates Stadium on February 27, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 27: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal FC reacts during the UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg match between Arsenal FC and Olympiacos FC at Emirates Stadium on February 27, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

Centre-Backs

Shkodran Mustafi missed last weekend’s contest versus West Ham United through a thigh strain. He returned to training this week, however, and was available for selection against Manchester City, had the match gone ahead. Expect to see the German back in the line-up after a string of excellent performances.

While Mustafi has established himself as a key part of Mikel Arteta’s defence, and arguably the number one centre-back at the club, there is now competition for the other position. David Luiz has been the everpresent for Mustafi recently, but Pablo Mari’s emergence with two successive starts now provides competition.

For now, expect to see Luiz continue at centre-back. The Mustafi-Luiz partnership was a strong one, however shocking that may seem, and Arteta would be a little rash to break it up just yet. That said, the pressure is now on to perform well with Mari fit and firing.