After chastening defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Chelsea in the first two games of the season, many expected the Gunners would struggle as they did in the last two seasons under Arsene Wenger. However, the Gunners have been undefeated since notching up 9 straight wins in all competitions.
The Gunners currently sit in the fourth place in the table and will be looking to secure a top-4 finish this season. The attacking players are brimming with confidence and scoring goals for fun while the usually leaky defence has been performing well of late.
After a positive start to the season, the Bosnian’s form tailed off due to injuries and the emergence of Ainsley Maitland-Niles. While the left-back is good at contributing to the attack with his overlapping runs, he is susceptible to making mistakes while playing in a back four. It was no surprise when Wenger decided to give Maitland-Niles a start instead of Kolasinac when sticking with four at the back.
Mustafi needs to prove his worth on a constant basis.
The German World cup winner is an enigma. He is capable of being sublime and ridiculous within a span of weeks. At his best, he is a ball playing boulder and tackler and at his worst, he gives away the ball very often and makes fouls in very dangerous areas.
The German has to perform at the same level and if there any slip-ups, he might have to deputize for the returning skipper Laurent Koscielny or Rob Holding, who has performed admirably when his services were called upon.
However, the Englishman’s second season was a disappointing one with Mustafi, Calum Chambers and even Mavropanos leapfrogging him in the pecking order.
Although prone to an occasional lapse in concentration, Holding is a treat to watch when he is in his element. With the return of Laurent Koscielny impending, the young Englishman has no room for complacency and can keep his starting spot if he pushes on and keeps his form.
The German stopper couldn’t impress in his first two outings as he couldn’t keep clean sheets. It was only after the injury to Petr Cech that Leno started proving his worth. After coming on from the bench in the place of injured Cech against Watford, he helped the Gunners to a clean sheet with his point-blank save from a Troy Deeney header proving to be one of the decisive moments of the game.
The Welshman is primarily deployed as a No. 10 this term, with Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan relegated to the wings. He was dropped to the bench against Fulham in favour of Alex Iwobi, who has been impressive this term and the Welshman responded with a stunning goal that is an early contender for the Goal of the season, after coming off the bench.
Ramsey is highly prolific for a midfielder and his sort of skillset is rare for a No.8 or a No. 10. Arsenal would be foolish to let go off Ramsey for a free and the midfielder isn’t the one to give up with a fight. He has the most to prove and earn himself a new contract. This will likely be an interesting battle.
