Arsenal: 4 David Luiz alternatives for Villarreal

Leaving Newcastle with three points, two goals scored, a clean sheet, no sight of Bukayo Saka or Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring on his return and Arsenal being untroubled throughout was a near perfect day.

Near perfect day.

Such a thing does not exist in the stratosphere surrounding Arsenal Football Club. You to take the smooth with healthy servings of the rough. At St James’ Park in the Premier League it was David Luiz’s turn to dish up the most recent portion of bad luck as he pulled his hamstring in an innocuous hoof upfield.

Will he play again this season? It’s too soon to call but there is nothing to indicate that he will. Equally, it may be his final involvement with the club entirely.

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4 David Luiz alternatives for Arsenal when they face Villarreal in the Europa League

Talk of whether another one-year deal is going to be offered to the Brazilian has taken multiple turns throughout the season, one minute seeming inevitable and the next highly unlikely. Would he even want to stick around with no European football on offer and when there will be the likes of Benfica happy to write him up a two-year contract? That’s another debate.

And securing European football for next season will have to be done without him. Out of Thursday’s monumental meeting with Villarreal, Mikel Arteta has a decision to make in his back line.

Well, it’s a decision that few agree with. As of yet there is no indication that he will shift away from his back three setup with Granit Xhaka on the left, after it was put into practice once again on Sunday.

It came unstuck in the unbearable viewing that was the first leg, and Arteta can’t be as foolish again to allow that area to be exploited against a manager who will 100% set his team up to exploit that area all over again.

What will he go for? Well, without Luiz, he has some options.

1. The Same Defence as in the First Leg vs Villarreal

Nightmare scenario out of the way first, Arteta may feel like his setup was the right one for the occasion, and it was merely carried out incorrectly following that early goal setback.

Laying it out as four defenders, Xhaka, Pablo Mari, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers might just be the single least athletic defence of all time. It’s hilariously slow.

With Arsenal leaving huge gaps between their lines, the protection for that quartet was minimal at best and allowed Gerard Moreno to drop into the half-spaces and Samuel Chukwueze to isolate Xhaka multiple times. Mari had a poor evening both with and without the ball, Holding was shaky, Chambers did okay and Xhaka did all he could for someone not built to play there.

Is Arteta going to gut out his defence and change personnel knowing the first leg was a mistake and reshaping the team will disrupt Unai Emery’s preparations, or will he stick to his guns (not out of the question at all) and put the first leg down to a very bad day at the office?