Arsenal host Watford on Sunday looking to keep their winning run going, let’s take a look at our predicted lineup for the match.
Following the draw with Crystal Palace a couple of weeks ago, Arsenal are on a run of two Premier League wins and three in all competitions. They’re also on an unbeaten run of nine games.
With Liverpool coming up after the international break, Mikel Arteta really needs to ensure his side keep that run going.
Arsenal need momentum to have any hope at Anfield, and they also need to pick up points now so they can afford to drop them against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Despite a shock win over Everton the week before last, Watford are still in pretty poor form under new boss Claudio Ranieri. They were thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool, and slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Southampton at the weekend. Three points is a must for Arsenal.
With that in mind, and since he doesn’t have any other games to prioritise, Arteta should go as strong as possible on Sunday. Here’s our predicted Arsenal lineup to face Watford.
Goalkeeper
Aaron Ramsdale will start in goal, as he continues to grow in popularity and rack up the clean sheets. He has five in eight games with Arsenal, more clean sheets than he’s conceded goals (four). Bernd Leno will have to keep waiting for a chance to break back in.
Defence
Most of the Arsenal back four is sure to remain stable, with Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White starting together in the centre-back pairing and Takehiro Tomiyasu at right-back. But there may be a change in the left-back position.
Kieran Tierney has missed the last couple of games through injury, and Nuno Tavares has done well in his absence. You’d still probably expect Tierney to come back in if he’s fit, though, and it seems like he’s close to making a comeback now.
Midfield
It’s hard to see many changes here. Thomas Partey and Albert Sambi Lokonga are working well together in the sitting midfield positions, and Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe continue to impress in the wide roles.
At the moment, that’s coming at the cost of Martin Odegaard getting starts, though his place in the team is arguably being taken by Alexandre Lacazette, rather than one of the midfielders.
We saw against Leicester that Lacazette for Odegaard is the preferred switch when Arteta wants to change formation and add another body in midfield.
It seems likely we’ll see more of that in the coming weeks, with just one of the two involved in the lineup depending on the system the manager is using.
Forwards
As mentioned, Lacazette is probably going to continue his run of starts in Arsenal’s new setup, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang playing alongside him as usual.
The two have combined well in possession and are also both working really hard out of it at the moment. While that continues to be the case, it’s not easy for any of the youthful forward alternatives to break in.