Just pretend like it never happened

Arsenal suffered their first embarrassing loss of the Mikel Artet loss and it’s time to bounce back against Brighton. Here’s the predicted XI.

You honestly could not have predicted Arsenal‘s loss to Manchester City, at least not in the way it happened. I don’t agree with any of the “same old Arsenal” talk, because it isn’t the same old Arsenal. It was a complete soiling of the pants by David Luiz and that’s all it was. Aside from that, the Gunners looked pretty strong.

Whatever the case, it’s on to the next one, with Brighton coming up at the weekend. What makes this one tough is just that it comes so soon after the City match, not to mention the plethora of injuries that have suddenly put a stranglehold on Arteta’s selection choices.

Still, there’s no reason not to go into this match with full confidence that this incredibly capable side can turn things around and get right back into the hunt for a Champions League place. Which, even with the loss, is not that far off.

Brighton is next, so here’s how Arsenal should line up

Let’s talk about the injuries first, because there’s a lot to cover there. Calum Chambers looks like he is still on the mend, meaning that this Pablo Mari situation is even tenser. Mari has been ruled out for the year following his injury against City and, well, that really sucks.

Granit Xhaka will also be missing, as he suffered what is thankfully not a season-ending injury, but will still keep him out for some time. Meaning that midfield and the defense just got a hell of a lot skinnier, and Arteta is going to need some key guys to step up against Brighton if we’re going to right the ship before it’s blown too far off course.

All things considered, Arteta doesn’t need to hit the panic button. I do think we’ll see some heavy rotation since the match is in such close proximity to the last one, but that’s perfectly fine. It’ll still look like a 4-2-3-1, and it’ll go like this…

Keeper

Let’s hope that Bernd Leno puts in another man of the match performance without needing to be the actual man of the match.

On to the fullbacks.