6 Arsenal alternatives for Thomas Partey in midfield

Martin Odegaard

This is risky territory. Being dished up a small serving of Martin Odegaard in the same side as Emile Smith Rowe against Villa, the very minor signs of further minutes together on the pitch for the pair sparked a few eager thoughts.

However, the idea of a 4-3-3 with Smith Rowe and Odegaard either side relies so heavily on an agile and mobile holding midfielder. Playing Xhaka in that role and having the pair either side is a heavy burden to place on someone who will not be able to cover all that space for what will be such an intense affair. It’s asking for trouble.

Where it could work is that Odegaard and Smith Rowe are Arsenal’s quickest technical operators, who will play the ball out of danger faster and prevent sustained periods of Leeds pressure.

Once a Marcelo Bielsa side has you within their grasp they keep cranking up the intensity, therefore having two players of similar ball carrying ability who can move the ball through the thirds will lessen the pile-on.

Do the potential gains outweigh the negatives? This clash is already set up to be a slugfest, as per almost every Leeds game, and by adopting this approach it will hark back to the Unai Emery days of rather winning 5-4 than 1-0.