Could Arsenal finally now have their dream left-hand spine fully available to face Forest?

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Just Arsenal News

·19. November 2024

Could Arsenal finally now have their dream left-hand spine fully available to face Forest?

We could finally see the revival of the Arsenal left-hand side after the international break. It is no secret that the Arsenal left-hand flank really struggled last season, and we sorely missed Granit Xhaka at LCM…

Oleksander Zinchenko “got found out,” and he became a weak link with his inverted fullback role. And Gabriel Martinelli looked to have lost his spark…

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This season, Arsenal recognised the importance of revitalising their LHS and made significant investments there. They recruited left-back Riccardo Calafiori for around £42 million and LCM Mikel Merino for around £32 million.

Interestingly, the duo hasn’t really had much time to play together because of injury. Mikel Merino missed the entire month of September due to injury, and upon his return, Calafiori quickly found himself sidelined.

Calafiori injured

After the international break, Mikel Arteta will finally have a fully fit Calafiori, Merino, and Martinelli available for selection. He has all his best LHS players on paper available but as to if he decides to unleash them immediately, we will have to wait and see.

Merino’s performance against Chelsea gave us hope for his potential influence in the LHS; if he can replicate his cameo appearance in the London derby in the upcoming games, and his great form for Spain inmidweek, he could propel the Arsenal LHS to similar heights as Martin Odegaard does for the RHS.

Riccardo Calafiori’s return is undoubtedly significant. The Italian defender brings personality, aggression, and huge technicality to the Gunners’ buildup and moves up with possession. With Merino finding his consistency, Martinelli could finally find the support he was missing, and Arsenal could be well balanced to suffocate opponents on either side.

Arsenal are 9 points off the top of the league. Are we finally going to see Arsenal at their best as we look forward to them turning around their season after a dissappointing start?

Sam P

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