Arsenal have started the season in blistering fashion, with the Gunners top of the Premier League after six games and experiencing a productive yet dramatic summer transfer window.
Barring some current injuries, the squad has not looked as good and as deep in many a year, and there’s a real sense around the red side of north London that Arsenal will make a big impact in both the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League this season.
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The six opening games of the Premier League season have given fans and pundits a good sense of what Arsenal will be playing this campaign, yet ahead of the Gunners’ European campaign kicking off this week, a whole new XI is likely to be seen in the coming days.
With this in mind, here is how HITC Sport believes Arsenal’s main and backup XI’s will shape up for the coming season, with the north London side looking capable of challenging for top-four and silverware for the new campaign.
Main XI – William Saliba and Granit Xhaka start as Gabriel Jesus leads the line
In our original feature back in May, we tipped Arsenal to go out into the transfer market to strengthen in both central midfield and the attack, and with the window slamming shut last week, the Gunners did achieve this, somewhat.
The Gunners went big on the signings of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, yet whilst the Ukrainian is capable of playing in midfield, the 25-year-old has taken the left-back spot for his own this season, and in a quite impressive style.
Zinchenko’s role has allowed Mikel Arteta to get the best out of £35m 2016 signing Granit Xhaka, who this season has flourished in the left-central midfield position with new club captain Martin Odegaard alongside him with Thomas Partey in the no. 6 role.
With William Saliba already one of the breakout Premier League talents of the season, Ben White has been pushed out to right-back with some quite stunning results, and with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka complementing Jesus well in the attack, Arsenal’s main XI quite the impressive mix of technical ability, youth and international experience.
Backup XI – Kieran Tierney captains Arsenal with Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah starring
With Arsenal essentially signing three new first-team players, the ripple effect these moves have across the entire squad is quite impressive, and as a result, Arteta’s backup squad for the League Cup and Europa League is quite scary, to say the least.
Bernd Leno’s departure and Matt Turner’s arrival means the USA international is set to act as deputy for Aaron Ramsdale, with Rob Holding and Takehiro Tomiyasu starting at centre-back, a position the Japanese international is yet to play for Arsenal but has done multiple times over his career.
Cedric Soares’ experience means the Portuguese international is a solid right-back option for Arsenal, whilst Zinchenko’s incredible impact already means Tierney drops down to the reserves, with the Scottish international captaining our XI in our case.
Xhaka’s improved role in the main XI also means that the backup midfield is stronger, with Mohamed Elneny covering for Partey whilst Albert Sambi Lokonga and new signing Vieira feature in the middle to create quite an exciting and versatile trio in the centre of the park.
To wrap up the backup XI, Eddie Nketiah leads the line after signing a new contract this summer and inheriting the legendary no. 14 shirt at Arsenal, with Emile Smith Rowe a fantastic option out on the left with Brazilian newboy Marquinhos starting on the right, with Reiss Nelson currently out through injury.
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