Arsenal vs Norwich predicted XI: Nicolas Pepe or bust

Centerbacks

The theme of our centerback deployment lately has been “what else could we actually do?” and it’s more of the same here. David Luiz probably won’t be available and I wouldn’t play him even if he was.

Instead, let’s assume that Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi will keep their place. Each one has been quite good—so good that I am warily optimistic that this defense is headed for something truly brilliant in the near future.

It’s the third centerback that gives me cause for concern. Chances are, for lack of a better option, it’ll be Sead Kolasinac again. He wasn’t particularly good against Sheffield. Time and time again he let runners sneak in behind him and I grew quite tired of seeing it. Personally, I think Kieran Tierney is a better third centerback, swapping with Kolasinac, but Tierney is too good out wide to waste in the middle.

There’s little else we can do with this, so expect it to look identical to Sheffield.

Next stop, wingbacks.