Arsenal: 6 players fighting for their places in the team

4. Nicolas Pepe

Nicolas Pepe has his work cut out, work that even if he’s tearing it up in training and when he almost certainly comes off the bench on occasions may not be enough.

The three behind the striker look set in stone: Odegaard, Smith Rowe and Saka will take some usurping to lose their places supporting Aubameyang. It’s an impossible job, in truth, given the Hale Ender’s continued magic and Odegaard’s ever growing influence as the glue holding the team together.

Thus, in some bizarre kind of way, Pepe is now effectively vying with Albert Sambi Lokonga for a place in the team. One will be trying to convince the manager that Arsenal are better off with two central midfielders while the other has to demonstrate that bringing in another forward into the squad is more beneficial: 4-2-3-1 vs 4-1-4-1.

It’s still likely that the manager will go horses for courses with his systems for the coming months after Xhaka’s injury, and Pepe will undoubtedly be playing a fair amount of games this season, just not anywhere near the volume he may desire.

Watching on from the bench against Tottenham and Brighton won’t have best pleased him. He has to make every minute count. He didn’t against the Seagulls.

Continued…