Page 3 - Premier League: Opinion - Arsenal's predicted starting XI for the 2019/20 season

Premier League: Opinion - Arsenal's predicted starting XI for the 2019/20 season

Modified Aug 08, 2019 06:25 GMT

Unai Emery will be hoping for a better second season at the Emirates

Central Midfielder - Granit Xhaka

Granit Xhaka will be running the show from the deep

The Swiss International ran the show for Arsenal last season, orchestrating the play from deep. Everything good in the Arsenal camp went through his boot and his overall contribution to the game was outstanding. Granit Xhaka is a fantastic passer of the ball, and also reads the game very well. This allows him to anticipate the opponents moves and create openings for his teammates. Without the ball, the Swiss International is equally effective, breaking up play, making crucial tackles and also winning aerial duels. And the fact that he can also come up with goals from the midfield makes him vital to Emery.

Central Midfielder - Lucas Torreira

Lucas Torreira is the midfield terrier for Arsenal

The Uruguayan joined Arsenal last summer, after catching the eye in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Lucas Torreira is the perfect foil to the silky Xhaka and is a terrier on the field. He is busy as a bee whenever Arsenal lose possession, closing down opponents, winning back the ball and getting those tackles in. And when the Gunners do move forward in attack, the Uruguayan regularly ventures into the box, taking up good positions and trying to set his teammates up. He also has an eye for the goal, and scored 2 and set up 2 goals from 34 appearances in the Premier League last season. This year too, Torreira can be expected to have a similar impact from midfield.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Zaid Khan