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Arteta Dropped! My Preferred Arssenal Team To Face Everton

By on April 4, 2014

We are on Merseyside this weekend to take on Everton at Goodison Park in whats going to be a hugely important game in our fight to remain in the top four. Here is my preferred team for the game.

Goalkeeper: Wojciech Szczesny hasn’t been on top form of late but he’s our No.1 and should remain so.

Defence: Arsene confirmed today that Kieran Gibbs is a doubt with an ankle injury so we shouldn’t take any risks with him. Nacho Monreal is available again so the Spaniard is likely to come in at left-back to give Gibbs a chance to recover ahead of the FA Cup semi next week. Laurent Koscielny is still out with a calf injury so the rest of the back four will remain unchanged.

Midfield: The big news is that Aaron Ramsey is back in the squad after returning to training on Thursday. However, after over three months out I really don’t expect, nor do I think it would be wise, for him to start. Give him 25 minutes in the second half and hopefully he’ll be fit to start next week.

I’ve been calling for it for weeks, but I think Mikel Arteta needs to be dropped for this game. His legs are gone and his lack of pace has been exposed time and time again, especially in games against the top sides. I’ve been a huge fan of his and while he is still a very useful player, particularly in home games against ‘lesser’ opposition, in a tough away game such as this up against youthful legs like McCarthy and Barkley, I fear Mikel will be found wanting.

So I’d go with Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky in the midfield two. They both have bags of energy and Rosicky could even interchange with The Ox at times if they wanted.

Attack: I’d prefer to see Chamberlain stay on the wing as his pace is desperately needed in the attacking third to stretch the Everton back-line. Lukas Podolski proved again why he’s a useful player to have in the team with another assist against Man City and he provides a vital goal threat. Obviously Santi Cazorla will be the other attacker with Mesut Ozil still out injured.

Striker: Olivier Giroud has been very poor in recent weeks but he’s had a week with no game so hopefully he’ll be a little more refreshed this weekend. Yaya Sanogo offers a youthful exuberance but he’s clearly not ready for regular first team football yet.

Here’s my line-up:

That’s the side I’d go with, but in reality I’d expect to see Arsene pick Mikel Arteta alongside Mathieu Flamini in midfield. Lukas Podolski will most likely drop to the bench with Tomas Rosicky replacing him in attack.

Hopefully we can pick up a win that would go a long way to securing out top-four place and may even push us a little closer to the top three.

You can see a full team news update here

What do you think of my team? What side would you pick?

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