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Aston Villa vs. Arsenal: How the Gunners Will Line Up in Premier League Game

Published by Bleacher Report on Sat, 20 Sep 2014


Arsenal must quickly rebound from their Champions League disappointment against Borussia Dortmund in an away tie with Aston Villa.The Gunners have only won a single Premier League game this season: Their opener against Crystal Palace, which was a very narrow victory partially borne out of luck.The temptation, due to recent history, is to write off Villa as a relatively easy victory and assume that Arsenal can regain form and rest some key players against them.The problem, though, is that Villa have won three of their first four Prem games and are second in the league with 10 points from a possible 12.Villa have overperformed so far largely on the back of a strong and organized defense that threatens to stymie an Arsenal side that has been unable to cohere. The Gunners have been toothless against elite and mediocre opponents alike, and Villa Park is already a difficult place to travel and take three points.We already know how Arsene Wenger will align his team in terms of formation, for that virtually never changes nowadays and, for better or worse, he seems intent on making his favorite XI adapt to a new 4-1-4-1 setup.Whether or not Arsenal will finally jell is very much an open question. Let's look at how the Gunners might be set up anyway.Most of the starting XI is identical to the one Wenger sent to the wolves of Borussia Dortmund, but there are a few notable differences.The back line sees one change, namely the insertion of Calum Chambers at right-back for Hector Bellerin. Chambers had a 50/50 chance of starting in Germany due to tonsillitis, but only made the bench.Given that the Englishman was fit enough to be called upon as an emergency option on Tuesday, he will very probably be ready to go the full 90 minutes this weekend. Let's hope he is, as Bellerin has almost no top-flight experience and Chambers is Arsenal's only backup center-back.Mikel Arteta retains his place as Arsenal's lone defensive/holding midfielder (which is alright against sides of Aston Villa's quality) and Jack Wilshere remains one of the two upfield midfielders. He has been one of Arsenal's only semi-inventive players in a tremendously dry creative spell.Likewise, Alexis Sanchez starts again on the right wing, providing that invaluable pugnacious energy that has often been the only thing keeping Arsenal in games. Danny Welbeck is the club's only viable option up front and thus will be given another chance to open his account.The two most significant changes, by far, are Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla for Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey.Ozil and Ramsey are usually the least likely Arsenal players to ride the bench, but each has been in torrid form recently and should yield for some of the world-class players the Gunners luckily have waiting in the wings to replace them.What good is this depth and supposed competition for places if no one ever loses their spot in the first team, even for a game' Wenger's substituting of both underperforming midfielders during the Dortmund match is a potential indicator that he is finally ready to make a necessary change.Cazorla has not been stellar this season but could hardly do worse than Ozil as a roving left winger. At least he is active and bustles around the opponent's third trying to create chances with both feet.And Oxlade-Chamberlain has been Arsenal's best player this season, despite usually only receiving cameos at the ends of matches. He is relentlessly positive, and combines a midfielder's passing nous with the speed and dribbling ability of a winger.Arsenal are crying out for that sort of dynamism in the absence of any sort of attacking spark. Oxlade-Chamberlain provides diversity, and, more importantly, looks like he can really change the tenor of a game.That is just what the Gunners need to get themselves out of their current rut.Follow @charliemelmanRead more World Football news on BleacherReport.com
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