Arsenal: The 5 players who must step up to make top five

3. Pablo Mari

David Luiz’s performances under Arteta have been largely excellent. While he went wandering during the second leg versus Olympiakos and still seems to have an error around the corner, on the whole, he has blossomed into the commanding defensive figure Arsenal need him to be.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Shkodran Mustafi also performed well during this period, putting his equally error-strewn ways behind him. However, Arteta has made it clear that he would like a left-footed centre-back as part of his defence to aid his team’s playing out from the back. He believes it provides a better balance of distribution and quickens up the pace of play.

That is why Arsenal signed Pablo Mari on a six-month loan in January and there have been vague murmurs that they may yet make the temporary deal a permanent one in the summer. Mari only played two matches before play was halted, but his passing was excellent, he was calm and composed on the ball, and his defensive work was mostly solid, though Michail Antonio showed him how physical the Premier League can be at times.

If Arteta is to persist with Mari alongside the Luiz, it could provide Arsenal with the ideal centre-back pairing to anchor the team. They are both superb passers, like to play in a high defensive line, and are aggressive decision-makers. That is what Arteta wants in his centre-backs and Mari might just be able to provide some form of fix to an otherwise leaky defence.