The first matchday following an unprecedented winter World Cup in the Middle East is a pretty nice one to get you back into the swing of things, with Newcastle travelling to Leicester and Jesse Lingard returning to Old Trafford. But we have picked out Arsenal vs West Ham as the game of the matchday, and have decided to do a combined XI of the two.
Gabriel Jesus is not in as he is injured. Neither is William Saliba, who may or may not play after reaching the final of the World Cup with France.
The Premier League is BACK, baby!
GK: Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Arsenal’s number one and England’s number two or three gets the nod between the sticks ahead of Matt Turner, Alphonse Areola and Lukasz Fabianski.
Ramsdale has been very solid for the Gunners since they surprised fans by bringing him in for Sheffield United for a transfer fee north of £20million. He was written off before saving a shot but has proven his doubters wrong and become a fans’ favourite at the Emirates. His passion and s**thousery are a welcome bonus, made even better by how much it winds up opposition fans.
RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal)
One of three awfully injury-prone Arsenal players to make this side, Tomiyasu is another who was signed out of the blue and has proven himself to be a terrific piece of business.
After being linked with a move to rivals Tottenham, Arsenal bought the Japanese international for a measly £15m on deadline day in the summer of 2021 and the only complaint you can have is that he is injured too often. The signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko and return of William Saliba have allowed this to be less of a problem, thankfully for Mikel Arteta.
Tomiyasu gets the nod for me ahead of Ben Johnson, Vladimir Coufal, Thilo Kehrer and Cedric. It is worth mentioning that if Saliba is available, he would be in this team ahead of Tomiyasu, with White being shifted out to right-back.
CB: Ben White (Arsenal)
Another player who raised some eyebrows when his transfer to Arsenal was made official; Arteta took a chance on White and signed him for a mammoth £50m. He has proven himself to be worth the risk, shining in the centre of defence in his debut season in north London before becoming a top right-back in 2022/23 following Saliba’s return to England.
Even if White has played on the right side of Arteta’s defence this season, he gets in this team as a central defender ahead of Nayef Aguerd, who had a brilliant World Cup with Morocco. This was perhaps the toughest…
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