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

Central Midfield

There might not be a position group in the entire team that is as well-defined as central midfield right now. In recent weeks, Mikel Arteta has fallen on what is clearly his first-choice trio around which he builds the team.

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It consists of Granit Xhaka in a left-sided holding role that allows him to shift to a pseudo left-centre-back position when Arsenal are in possession; Dani Ceballos as a deep-lying playmaker just in front of the back four; Mesut Ozil, in a free-roaming attacking-midfield role that is slighted to the right flank.

With Lucas Torreira now dealing with a nasty ankle injury that could end his season, there is little reason to think that Arteta will deviate from this starting trio. Matteo Guendouzi might feel harshly done by, while Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are a long way down the pecking order.

Realistically, with Torreira now no longer an option, Arteta’s choices in central midfield have been narrowed rather significantly. It makes predicting what he will do at the position easy to predict with this trio having started the last four matches in all competitions (the last three Premier League matches and the second leg versus Olympiakos in the Europa League) that Arteta used a full-strength starting XI in.