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Welbeck & Ozil start: My Arsenal XI vs West Brom

By on March 16, 2017

mesut ozil arsenal

Arsenal desperately need to get our Premier League campaign back on track with a win when we take on West Brom at the Hawthorns on Saturday lunchtime.

This is the team I’d like to see Arsene Wenger go with….

Goalkeeper: Cech

Ospina is back in contention after missing the win over Lincoln last weekend with a knock but I’d stick with Cech as despite not having the best of seasons, the Czech star is still the better keeper.

Defence: Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal

Gibbs is a doubt after picking up a knock during the FA Cup win last weekend so I expect we’ll see Monreal recalled at left-back but Bellerin should keep his place on the right.

We have plenty of options in the middle of defence with Gabriel, Holding and Mertesacker all pushing for game-time, however, there is little doubt our best pairing are Mustafi and Koscielny and they should continue alongside each other on Saturday.

Midfield: Xhaka, Ramsey

Oxlade-Chamberlain is a doubt after being forced off against Lincoln with a hamstring injury so we’ll have to shuffle things around if he fails his late fitness test.

Granit Xhaka should keep his place at the base of midfield and while Wenger will probably go with Coquelin, I’d like to see Ramsey continue alongside the Swiss international as I still think that partnership has a lot of potential.

Elneny is back in contention after recovering from an ankle injury but he’ll be named among the substitutes while Cazorla remains out with a long-term Achilles injury.

Danny Welbeck

Attack: Walcott, Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck

Ozil hasn’t started in recent weeks due to illness but I think it’s time he returns to the starting eleven and hopefully he’s ready to put aside doubts over his future to finish the season strongly.

Walcott should keep his place on the right wing as he was in good form against Lincoln last weekend and he should be looking to respond after being inexplicably left out of the latest England squad.

Welbeck is back in contention after recovering from illness and I’d love to see him start up front in place of Giroud with Sanchez out on the left. A front three of Walcott, Sanchez and Welbeck is something I’ve been keen to see and with Ozil supplying the bullets, we should cause West Brom lots of problems.

We’d also have the likes of Giroud and Perez as attacking options on the bench so we have plenty of firepower this weekend.

This would be my line-up:

Whatever side Wenger decides to put out, we need to secure three points as the race for the top four is going to be tighter than ever this year…