21 April 2023 , 09:16
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Mikel Arteta has been able to stick to a winning formula for most of the season.
Incredibly, Arsenal have made the fewest changes to their starting line-up - just 28 - all season. Unsurprisingly, Chelsea have made the most with 112 which is probably reflective of how hard it is to keep such a big dressing room happy.
You definitely benefit from a settled line-up, although the downside must be that teams who rely on the same starting XI clearly run the risk of burnout. That is the danger facing Arsenal now, especially with the likes of Bukayo Saka looking jaded at West Ham when he has been a huge player all season.
Arsenal’s first-choice starting XI has largely been very easy to predict: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus.
They have missed Gabriel Jesus for a large chunk of the season, Oleksandr Zinchenko has also missed games and yet they have been fairly fortunate on others even if Thomas Partey has missed key games and squad players like Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson have had longer injuries.
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But one player, William Saliba, has really thrown the whole thing out of synch which has just gone to show just how important the France defender is for Arsenal.
Saliba’s injury has seen him miss the past four games and the whole system - his distribution from the back, inverted full back pushed into midfield, Martin Odegaard behind front three - has felt unbalanced.
What would your Arsenal starting line-up be against Southampton? Comment here
Mikel Arteta has made fewer changes to his starting XI than any other Premier League manager this season (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Zinchenko was missing at West Ham but should be back to face Southampton on Friday night which is a major boost ahead of the trip to Manchester City next Wednesday.
Saliba’s involvement is less certain at the Etihad because he has been struggling with a back injury first suffered at Fulham and then aggravated against Sporting Lisbon four days later.
Arsenal boss Arteta has said Saliba’s recovery is not going as well as hoped, did not rule him out for the rest of the season but did admit that the danger is playing him could make the injury worse.
But they have to get back to playing out from the back and that is why Ben White could come back into the equation as a centre half in the final weeks of the season.
White was outstanding alongside Gabriel last season and, even if they do not do it against Southampton, that pairing could be an option at City.
It was strange to see Kieran Tierney operate as the inverted left back at West Ham in Zinchenko’s absence. It did not really work and if systems don’t make players, players make systems then maybe Arsenal should have considered going old school and switching to a back four.
It will be such a big thing for Arteta to take Rob Holding out of the starting line-up as he’s such a popular squad member. He’s also a very good back-up centre half.
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But there must be a temptation - if not against Southampton - to play a different way against City and get back to the style that has brought Arsenal so many results this season.
Arsenal (probable) vs Southampton: Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus.