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Arsenal fans have had their say on who should be in the strongest starting lineup every week. The Gunners have been on a poor run of form this season, winning […]
Arsenal fans have had their say on who should be in the strongest starting lineup every week.
The Gunners have been on a poor run of form this season, winning just four of the opening 12 fixtures in the Premier League.
With 17 points on the board and a -1 goal difference, Arsenal have recorded their worst start to a league season since 1982/83.
Unai Emery is coming under pressure from supporters, who aren’t happy with team selections, style of play and tactical decisions.
READ MORE: Podcast: Arsenal’s season so far, Unai Emery’s future and the few positives
So with that in mind, we’ve put the fans to the task of choosing what they think is the best starting XI.
A total of 160 supporters responded to a survey in which they simply had to choose the lineup.
The only three players who made everyone’s team were Bernd Leno, Kieran Tierney and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe were the next most popular players.
There were also a few surprising results to note from the choices you made though.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite Granit Xhaka’s fallout with the fans against Crystal Palace and the consequential decision by Emery to strip him of the club captaincy, he still makes your starting XI.
Sokratis, who has been the first-choice centre-back for most of the season so far, was only picked by 38 per cent of you.
And perhaps most surprisingly of all, barely anyone chose Matteo Guendouzi, with just 29 of you including the young Frenchman in your midfield – that’s just 18 per cent of fans surveyed.
READ MORE: Lucas Torreira could leave Arsenal – and Unai Emery only has himself to blame
So the majority votes resulted with a team setup presumably in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The players selected were: Leno, Bellerin, David Luiz, Holding, Tierney, Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil, Pepe, Lacazette and Aubameyang.
Among those who weren’t picked by a single person, were Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson.
Take a look at the number of votes each player got below.
| Player | No. of votes | % |
| Bernd Leno | 160 | 100% |
| Kieran Tierney | 160 | 100% |
| Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | 160 | 100% |
| Hector Bellerin | 152 | 95% |
| David Luiz | 148 | 93% |
| Mesut Ozil | 146 | 91% |
| Alexandre Lacazette | 144 | 90% |
| Nicolas Pepe | 139 | 86% |
| Lucas Torreira | 121 | 75% |
| Rob Holding | 111 | 69% |
| Granit Xhaka | 81 | 50% |
| Dani Ceballos | 67 | 41% |
| Calum Chambers | 63 | 39% |
| Sokratis | 61 | 38% |
| Matteo Guendouzi | 29 | 18% |
| Joe Willock | 9 | 5.5% |
| Gabriel Martinelli | 5 | 3% |
| Bukayo Saka | 3 | 1.5% |
| Emile Smith-Rowe | 1 | 0.5% |
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But i think David Luiz should start as a centre defensive midfield then papasthopous start with Holding in centre back even Chambers should start in right back and formation should be 4,2,1,3
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I certainly like the idea of trying David Luiz in midfield. Chambers could also be given a chance in that role – he was Fulham’s player of the year playing in central midfield last season after all…
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