Arsenal vs Tottenham: 5 factors that could decide the game

#2 Who will be the players in the double pivot?

Will these be the two starting against Spurs?

Unai Emery loves the double pivot. Some name double pivot as the clear reason for the "boring" football that the team plays. Certainly, Arsenal has not been boring as such this season. A double pivot is simply the operation of two defensive midfielders.

The key roles of a player in a double pivot are to distribute intelligently and hold the lines still while the other is free to move forward and support the attacks. So, one player can stay in the hole while the other is free to press the attacking player.

The advantages of the double pivot are less risk against counter-attack, no risk in wandering out of position, giving one of the players freedom to go forward and also making up for the defensive incapabilities of the more creative midfielder.

So, Arsenal has three good defensive midfielders in their arsenal, funny right? Well, it isn't funny for oppositions. Torreira and Xhaka are great players in a double pivot. Torreira is a great distributor of passes and is good at dictating the pace of the game and holding possession.

Xhaka is a good player defensively but when given freedom to attack he is another type of a threat. He is a great player in terms of shooting from distance which he always offers when in the final third.

The other player at Arsenal's possession is Matteo Guendouzi. Unlike Xhaka, Guendouzi is not a proven sniper from long range. But he is a player who could run like mad for 90 minutes. He has a great work rate and he is good at recovering the ball, winning duels and is a strong passer.

So, who out of the three? Torreira seems an automatic choice. He is the best defensive player among the three, in terms of tackling and interception. He is the true pivot, so he is a must. Among Guendouzi and Xhaka, the major factor would be the number of yellow cards that Xhaka has gathered.

One more card and he is suspended for the next game. It depends on which fixture Emery considers more important.

Guendouzi wouldn't be a bad choice given his work ethic and performance against Manchester City on matchday 1. The only thing missing would be Xhaka's long shots and direct-freekicks.

Maybe, Xhaka should be saved for the game against United who like to park the bus. His long shots would be missed more in that game than in this. Up to Emery, as always.