Ahead of the north London derby, Arsenal only have two fit senior central midfielders. Who on earth are they going to start in the middle against fierce rivals Tottenham?
It has not been a good few weeks for Arsenal.
They already knew they were heading into the north London derby without their newest signing, Mikel Merino, who is set to miss two months after fracturing his shoulder in his very first training session with the club. Then, last week, Declan Rice picked up a controversial red card in the game against Brighton and will miss this weekend’s match due to suspension.
Now, the international break has brought with it two more injuries to first-team players. Riccardo Calafiori was sent home from the Italian squad with a calf injury. He is very much touch-and-go for the weekend. But in more damaging news, club captain and talisman Martin Ødegaard limped off in tears in Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria on Monday. The initial prognosis does not look good, and it would be a surprise if he were fit to feature against Tottenham.
With Emile Smith Rowe offloaded to Fulham and Fábio Vieira out on loan at Porto, Arsenal are extremely light in midfield as they now embark on an exceptionally tricky set of fixtures.
Their trip to Spurs is followed by a Champions League match against Atalanta in Bergamo, before a visit to title rivals Manchester City.
But, to stay true to the cliché: let’s take one game at a time. Given their personnel issues, who on earth should start in midfield against Tottenham this weekend?
No Jorginho, No Partey
Thomas Partey and Jorginho are the only two senior central midfielders that Arsenal have available. They both have the experience needed to play a game of this magnitude. The pair of them starting at the base of Arsenal’s midfield is probably the most obvious – if not the most inspiring – solution.
But Arteta has a system, and in his 4-3-3 he’s never played with a flat two in midfield. Starting both of these players would either need a change in system or require one of them to play in a more advanced number eight role, and neither has the mobility to do so.
The two of them have never started in midfield together for Arsenal before. Between them, they have 98 Premier League starts for Arsenal, but they’ve only started together in two of those. And in both of those Partey started at right-back – against Nottingham Forest and Wolves late on in the 2022-23 season. He very much ‘stayed’ at right-back in those matches, too.
Partey has started all three of Arsenal’s games so far this season and would provide much-needed defensive bite in front of the defence. The Ghanian has made the most interceptions (6) and committed the most fouls (7) of any Arsenal player so far, while only Bukayo Saka (13) has won possession back for the Gunners more often (12).
If Arteta goes with just one of those, it will be Partey who gets the nod.
But that still leaves a big Rice-and-Ødegaard-shaped hole to fill. What options does he have?
Option 1: Move Kai Havertz into Midfield
Probably the simplest option for Arteta would be drop Kai Havertz into midfield, either ahead of Jorginho and Partey, or alongside one of our other midfield options below.
In 2023-24, Havertz actually played more minutes in midfield (60%) than as a forward (40%), so he’s got more than enough prior experience of playing in that position in this system.
The downside is that the German has been so much more effective as Arsenal’s striker and has made a great start to this season up top. The team loses a lot if he plays deeper.
Since the start of February – when Havertz moved up front as cover for Gabriel Jesus – only Cole Palmer (25) and Erling Haaland (21) have been involved in more Premier League goals than Havertz’s 18 (11 goals, seven assists). And his 18 goal involvements have come in his last 17 Premier League appearances.
Havertz’s off-the-ball qualities make him an attractive option in midfield, though. He has an ability to spring forward from central areas to press and a 6-foot-4 frame makes him a big presence in midfield and in both boxes.
In his absence, it would probably be down to Leandro Trossard to lead the line, flanked by Saka and one of Gabriel Martinelli or Raheem Sterling. Gabriel Jesus is still an injury doubt.
Arteta will need to decide whether the trade-off is worth it.
Option 2: Start Trossard in Midfield
If Arteta doesn’t want to move Havertz from a role that he’s thrived in, he could look at Trossard as a straight replacement for Ødegaard.
Since his arrival in January 2023, the Belgian has mainly played out wide or as a false nine, but he has hinted at a personal preference at playing slightly further back as a number 10.
“It helps me that I’m versatile and that I can play in different positions,” he said upon joining the club. “I like to be in the pocket behind the striker. On the wings, I can explore myself as well. I’m comfortable in either of those positions but if I were to choose, behind the striker – but it all depends on the system.”
Trossard has made three of his 29 Arsenal starts in central midfield. All came in the winter of last season (a 1-0 win vs Brentford, a 2-1 win vs Wolves and that damaging 2-0 loss to West Ham), when Arteta tried Trossard in the middle. He was particularly lively from an attacking sense in the latter of those two matches; he took five shots in each– the highest of any Arsenal player in both games – so his presence would definitely give Arsenal an extra threat going forward.
The question is whether Arteta trusts him to win his duels in the heat of the derby: across those three matches, the Belgian won only 14 of his 29 duels (48.2%). By way of comparison, Rice won 14/20 (70%) across those matches. They are of course different players with different skillsets, but that is what you miss when you play a more technical player in the middle of the park.
Option 3: Move a Full-Back Into Midfield
Maybe a solution that could be used in conjunction with Option 1 or 2; Arteta could start one of Oleksandr Zinchenko or Jurriën Timber in midfield next to Partey.
Both are comfortable inverting from full-back to play in central areas and both – particularly Zinchenko – would offer excellent progressive passing options.
Across Timber’s 83 league starts at Ajax (80) and Arsenal (3), he has never started in central midfield, while Zinchenko has only started there once in the Premier League (for Man City) in 58 starts under Pep Guardiola and 47 games under Arsenal.
Instructing Timber, who started Arsenal’s two most recent league games at left-back, to drift inside and provide support to Partey seems the most likely way Arteta will deploy him.
So, there’s still a midfield role to fill. Which brings us to…
Option 4: Start Ethan Nwaneri
What a statement this would be.
Ethan Nwaneri has yet to start a competitive game for the Arsenal first team. Arteta has been patient with giving the 17-year-old his chance. Considering he became the youngest player in Premier League history almost two years ago, we might have expected him to have played a lot more first-team minutes since then.
Nwaneri played a lot in pre-season, starting against both Bournemouth and Manchester United, where he impressed as their left-sided number eight, driving Arsenal forward from midfield.
He’s shown he has the technical prowess to play at this level, but physically he still needs development. Last year, Arsenal U21 head coach Mehmet Ali told The Athletic: “In terms of areas he can improve, we’re always looking at the physicality of the Premier League. It’s relentless in terms of athleticism, running power and agility, so his out-of-possession stuff is an area we’re looking to develop.”
Arteta must surely trust Nwaneri to play some kind of first-team squad role after letting Smith Rowe and Vieira leave. Handing him his first ever competitive start away at Tottenham in a north London derby is another matter… it would be a huge call. Only Arteta and his coaching staff will know whether the teenager is ready.
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