Arsenal vs West Ham Predicted XI: Hold On to Top Spot

Wing-Backs & Midfielders

Let’s address the elephant in the room straight off the bat: Dani Ceballos, or Mohamed Elneny? The rest of the midfield/wing-back four should all retain their spots in the side, leaving the heart of the pitch to be the only area to contest.

Dani Ceballos returned to north London to much fanfare following his form of late last season. Rightly so, he was the driving force in midfield that helped Arsenal tick. Not to mention his passion and love of winning rubbed off on us fans as much as it did his teammates. Heck, those fist pumps get the spine tingling.

That’s not why he’ll start, though. He’ll get the nod over Elneny due to the size of the pitch and opposition we’re facing. It’s fair to expect two rigid banks of four from West Ham – their away kit even eludes to their shape – that could slot into a back five, where that little extra touch of creativity will be needed to unpick the lock.

Our Emirates home is also bigger than Craven Cottage, where Ceballos’ bursts through the midfield lines can be used to full effect as the wingers stretch the play out wide and find gaps in between the centre-half and the full-back for the Spaniard to exploit.

As will be the case for the whole season, Granit Xhaka will be the balancing act alongside whomever he partners with his long passing key to pulling opposition players out of position.

I do miss seeing Bukayo Saka play, but the Fulham formula worked and there is no reason to take either Hector Bellerin at right wing-back or Ainsley Maitland-Niles at left wing-back out of the starting lineup when they did their jobs well enough on the opening day.