The Gunners had a slow start in the opening half, but they were much better after the break and deserved the victory.
There were plenty of stand-out performers, but the big talking point was the hamstring injury sustained by Gabriel Magalhaes.
The £62 million-rated centre-back could be ruled out for the remainder of the season with the setback.
This is set to hand a major hurdle for the Gunners ahead of the Champions League quarter-final ties against Real Madrid this month.
Riccardo Calafiori would be the preferred choice to replace Gabriel in the XI, but the Italian star is out for a few weeks with a knee injury.
Jakub Kiwior came on as a substitute against the Cottagers, but we are not entirely convinced he can cope with Madrid’s intensity.
The Poland international has been guilty of losing cheap possession in the past.
Against Fulham, he was outmuscled by Adama Traore on one occasion, but fortunately for him, the subsequent pass was beyond Raul Jimenez’s reach in the box.
A similar error against Madrid could have a detrimental effect. It could most likely end up in a goal, considering the quality attacking talent in the opposition ranks.
In our view, the Gunners should line up with a four-man defence of Ben White, William Saliba, Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly for the first leg of the quarter-final at home.
White picked up a minor niggle (knee related) in the lead-up to the Fulham game, and manager Mikel Arteta will be hoping that he can recover in time to face Los Blancos.
In that case, we could see Timber drop into central defence alongside Saliba. The former picked up a knock to his knee on Tuesday but managed to carry on playing for 50 minutes.
He was eventually substituted, but it was probably as a precaution.
Timber is most comfortable as a right centre-back, and we may see a change with William Saliba moving to the left, where he has played regularly for France over the past year.
How Arsenal could line up in defence vs Real Madrid
0 Comments