And so the era of Granit Xhaka captaincy at Arsenal begins Monday night when the Gunners travel to Manchester United. The results are in, via a squad vote, and the midfielder will be the head of the captaincy group. No doubt this is going to polarize opinion within the Arsenal fan base, a supporter group that has been very passionate in public lately.
Manager Unai Emery has said that the wearer of the captain’s arm band won’t necessarily be granted an automatic place in the first team. Minutes must be earned, but for our prediction purposes here, we slotted in Xhaka in the first 11.
Arsenal come into this one sitting in fourth place, and given how things have been at the club lately, it has to be the minimum goal for the season. After three straight finishes outside the top four, the North London side desperately needs to get back into Europe and this is definitely the time to make the move to do so.
Both their biggest rivals are reeling right now. Tottenham Hotspur are off to a very slow start and Chelsea are rebuilding and retooling.
Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction at Manchester United
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang Nicolas Pepe
Dani Ceballos
Lucas Torreira Granit Xhaka Matteo Guendouzi
Sead Kolasinac David Luiz Sokratis Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Bern Leno
Arsenal at Manchester United FYIs
Google’s result probability: 40% United win, 27% draw, 33% Gunners victory
Odds via Betway: United win at 11/8, draw 12/5, Arsenal win 19/10
Team news: Arsenal Manchester United
United starting XI prediction: go to this link
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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