Arsenal EPL and UFEA Europa League matches are postponed

 Arsenal EPL and Europa League matches are postponed due to a lack of sufficient police force on match day. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is planned for Monday and world leaders, among them presidents, prime ministers, and monarchs will be attending the event. US president, Biden, and first lady Joe Biden have already accepted the invitation. This significant influx of VIPs at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II would demand a security plan with more security forces involved in the event. So, Arsenal's clash with Everton and PSV in the English premier league and UFEA Europa League are postponed and rescheduled. 

Arsenal have to offload many stalwarts at defense.

Arsenal have been facing defensive issues for past couple of years. In the pursuit of a lucrative solution they signed the likes of Luiz, Sokratis, Mustafi and some others but could not get desirable results. Now it has become a big issue for Arteta to offload the stalwarts to make room for new signings and youngsters. Last year singing and on loan defender Saliba will join the row when the season completes. And injured defender who had showed full potential and commitment before injury, Calum Chambers and on loan young defender Rob Holding will contend for the place at the heart of defense. Another defender, Pablo Mari is expected to turn the loan status into a permanent one.
So, there will be 6 players for just two positions. In this situation Arteta has to offload a couple of defenders to make a balance in resource allocation and time allocation. It is difficult to find some suitable buyers for Mustafi and Sokratis. This situation may halt the process of defensive overhaul for Arteta who intend to add some quality with new signings in the defense. 

Europa League: Arsenal Lineup Vs Olympiacos, Martinelli and Lacazette to Start.

Arsenal are in Athens to face Olympiacos in Europa League round of 32. Arsenal and Olympiacos have played 8 games with each other and both sides have 4 wins and Arsenal have lost twice in their 3 visits. Olympiacos have been unbeaten in last 18 consecutive matches and have finished 3^rd in UEFA Champions League group stages. While Arsenal have struggled in this season in Premier League but have finished at top in Europa League Group stages. A tough match is expected at Karaiskakis Stadium.

Mesut Ozil and Lucas Torreira are not travelling with the team. Ozil will miss the match because of his personal matters and Torreira is ill and not ready to play, he may join the team if feels fit. In the absence of Ozil and Torreira youngsters will have a chance to display their potential and it is also expected that Arteta may rest Aubameyang for upcoming EPL fixtures, particularly game against Everton on Sunday. Saka will also be rested and injury return Kolasinac will start as left fullback and Sokratis will replace Mustafi at the heart of defense. Bellarin is playing regularly after returning from injury and he may need some rest before tough fixtures. Maitland Niles has been very effective under Arteta and deserves to start.

		Lacazette
Martinelli		Willock		Pepe
	Xhaka		Ceballos
Kolasinac	Luiz		Sokratis	Maitland-Niles
		Martinez

Goal Post: Martinez will start at goal post.  

Defense:  Maitland Niles, Sokratis, Luiz and Kolasinac

Midfield: Ceballos, Xhaka, and Willock

Forward line: Pepe, Laccazette and Martinelli

Pepe, Saka and Cebbalos were magnificent in Arsenal win against Newcastle.

Cebbalos was a surprise inclusion in the starting xi particularly partnering with Xhaka in the heart of midfield. As everyone is improving in their respective roles under Arteta the same did by Cebbalos. During the match he seemed very energetic and enthusiastic always trying to make something extraordinary happen, this was a very positive and much-needed attitude, Arteta wanted from his players. This is Cebbalos who stood up and displayed a magnificent performance, i think this was lacking in Arsenal's midfield and the main reason behind several draws in a row. In early matches, the midfield was playing very deep and most of the time relaying on long balls. Cebbalos' performance helped out Ozil and Pepe and showed more creativity and impact in the opponents' half.
Pepe showed a tremendous performance with 2 assists and a goal apart from the chances he created in the final third. This is Pepe for whom Arsenal has paid a gigantic transfer fee.
The other stand-out performer was Saka. He is not a neutral left-back but showed much maturity and impact defensively and offensively. His assist to Pepe was perfect. This was his eighth assist of the season. After his successive performances, it will be difficult for Arteta to drop him when his full-time left-backs will be available for selection.
Defensive pair Mustafi and Luiz played a well compact game but it was par away from the much needed standards. It will be difficult to defend when Arsenal encounters quality attacking sides. Arteta will have to focus on the early inclusion of Mari Pablo.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup Vs Newcastle United, Mari, Pepe and Martinelli to start.

Arsenal is back after winter break and it was a great opportunity to fix the weak areas and strengthen the shortcomings and it also gave enough time to new signings to gel with the team. In the coming fixture, Arsenal is going to play against Newcastle at home. Arteta has to make many tough decisions; whether he will go with the preferred starting XI which he has been relying in last couple of matches or make some changes in some positions. Particularly, Lacazette and Ozil have been criticized for their role and display of game. Most poles and expert opinions show that the duo should be replaced with Pape and Ceballos.

		Aubameyang
Martinelli		Ceballos		Pepe
	Xhaka		Torreira
Saka	Mustafi		Luiz	Bellarin
		Leno

If Arteta drops Lacazette definitely Ozil will also be dropped and Ceballos will be given chance to start at No. 10 because in presence of Ceballos Aubameyang will not have to play deep in order to get ball, Ceballos provides more depth and high work rate as compared to Ozil. It will reduce work rate of Aubameyang and he could be more focused on attack.

In this game Aubameyang will operate on the front, Pepe and Martinelli will be positioned at right and left wing respectively and Ceballos will be playing as No. 10.

Xhaka and Torreira are first priority of Arteta, so they start at midline. The duo have prolific and invincible for Arteta. Both of them have improved under Arteat and stepped up to take responsibilities.

Pablo Mari will debut in the home game, its best chance to take a risk and give a starting to Mari because rest of the defenders’ performance has not been up to the remark.

Arsenal have been failed to find right replacements for their key players

Aubameyang has been linked with Barcelona in a couple of transfer windows particularly in the winter transfer window. Barcelona has lost Luiz Suarez until May because of knee injury and they wanted a replacement. Sporting Director Barcelona Eric Abidal has praised Arsenal captain Aubameyang and has indicated that they will attempt to land the Arsenal ace in summer.

Barcelona’s interest in Aubameyang is alarming for Arteta and Arsenal because it will heavily affect Artet’s plans. If we look at the statistic for the current season, Aubameyang leads the table with 16 goals and 1 assist. Rest of the stickers do not have significant contribution in terms of goals and assists.  

Players	Goals	Assists	Minutes per Goal
Aubameyang	16	1	139
Martinelli	10	2	119
Lacazette	6	2	245
Pepe	5	5	301
Willock	4	0	157
Saka	3	5	142

History shows that Arsenal have not been good enough at finding replacements of key players. Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Santi Cazorla, Aron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny left the club in recent past but Arsenal could not signed the right replacements which created a dilemma in the club.

Similarly, if Arsenal Captain Aubameyang leaves for Barcelona in summer, most probably Arsenal will have to face another dilemma in forward line. Arteta and Arsenal should try their best to keep Aubameyang at any cost, otherwise things will get worse at Arsenal.  

Arsenal may sell out Lacazette, Ozil, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, and Elnany to free up some funds and space for new signings in summer. A quality defender is pertinent to sign in summer if Pablo Mari doesn’t fulfil the gape in defense line up along with a defensive midfielder and a creative midfielder. Smith Rowe and Willock could make up decent contribution in the midfield in next season but defensive midfielder and a fullback should be of high priority.