Arsenal vs Aston Villa predicted XI: Ground can be made up

Centerbacks

Not going to lie, I’m a little perplexed as to what approach Mikel Arteta is going to take here. We just had a hard-fought victory over City on Saturday and now we’re being forced to fend off a relegation-crazed Villa on Tuesday. That has to account for some rotation, but it hasn’t always.

My hesitation begins with the back three. For the sake of just believing that Rob Holding is due another start, I’ll slot him in on the right side of this back three, with the standard David Luiz in the middle, because no one else can play in the middle.

On the left, it feels like Sead Kolasinac has seen himself out of the selection picture, and with Kieran Tierney having performed so well in the role against City, I have to believe that he keeps it here. But again, this is where I have hesitation. I don’t know if Arteta sees Tierney as a solution at left centerback, or if it was a one-off against City just so that he didn’t have to play Kolasinac.

We will see, but whatever the back three, Luiz will be in the middle of it all. I think that’s about as sure as I can be.

Wingbacks next.