Arsenal Predicted Starters To Face Watford

Even though the thought of Petr Cech coming back soon excites me, having David Ospina in goal isn’t too bad either. He’s done a wonderful job with the opportunity presented to him. No doubt he’ll be the starter against Watford.

Hector Bellerin has been one of Arsenal’s best defenders this season and has made the right-back position his own. He played for Spain U-21 over the international break so he may be a bit knackered, but no doubt he’ll give in the kind of solid performance that saw him become a mainstay in Arsenal’s starting XI.

Retiring from the German national team will undoubtedly be a good thing for Per Mertesacker going into Saturday’s game. He’ll have the fresh legs needed to cope with Watford’s speedy forwards.

He’s one of the first names on the team sheet. Laurent Koscielny hasn’t played much for Arsenal as of late due to injury, but that’s no reason to believe he won’t be solid defensively come matchday.

If not for such a deep Spanish squad, Nacho Monreal probably would have featured for his country over the break- he’s become that good. Like Mertesacker, he will be at 100% going into Saturday’s game after having some rest.

I still haven’t forgiven Francis Coquelin for his red card vs Tottenham (okay, maybe I need to let that go), but that isn’t going to stop me from naming him in my starting XI. Watford are a tough team (as they showed in our FA Cup defeat to them), so Arsenal need a bit of grit in that centre of midfield. Arsenal need a no nonsense kind of player to out-toughen Watford in this game. Look for #34 to do just that.

Probably the most intriguing/exciting player in the squad right now is Mohamed Elneny. His ability to cover   nearly the entire pitch, stop forwards in their tracks and score absolute screamers against football superpowers (see the 4-1 defeat to Barcelona) is something Arsenal fans can appreciate in an otherwise disappointing season. I love the chemistry he has developed with Coquelin, so it would be great to see Wenger pair them together against Watford.

Its time for Arsene Wenger to let the reigns loose on Joel Campbell. He’s been Arsenal’s best impact player off the bench so far this season, so why not start him in a run of games and see what happens? Given the length of Ramsey’s injury layoff, now is the time for Wenger to experiment with Campbell.

Alexis Sanchez should probably be dropped for his poor form, but I just can’t see Wenger benching him. With that said, a player if his caliber has the ability to change a game on a dime, so playing Alexis could prove to be quite fruitful for Arsenal on Saturday.

You can’t help but think that if Arsenal were more clinical in front of net, then Mesut Ozil’s assist record would be that much more impressive. He’s done everything he can to put Arsenal in positions to score this season- he’s finally justified his £42 million price tag. No doubt Watford will find it tough to get the ball off Ozil in this game.

Arsenal’s strikes have exhibited an array of inconsistent performances this season, so it has pretty much become a case of choosing who’s hot at the moment. Right now, you’d have to say Danny Welbeck is the main man going forward for Arsenal. I expect him to get the nod in attack on Saturday.