Arsenal take on Aston Villa in the Premier League, and Ben White is in contention to start the game.
The Gunners have been hit by injuries once again. Declan Rice suffered a calf issue against Brentford, while Cristhian Mosquera had to go off due to an ankle problem.
In his press conference, Arteta confirmed that Mosquera’s injury is ‘complicated’, which suggests he could miss the game against Aston Villa on Saturday.
With William Saliba’s availability also unclear, the door could open for White to start again.
Ben White was unstoppable vs Brentford, can he get back into the starting XI?
Ben White could start back-to-back Premier League games for Arsenal
Ben White started for Arsenal against Brentford on Wednesday night, and he was brilliant.
The Englishman was solid in defence, outstanding in attack and even picked up an assist for Mikel Merino’s goal in the first half.
White even won the Man of the Match award for his performance, but despite that, everyone expected him to be benched for the clash against Aston Villa. That’s because Jurrien Timber has been so good at right-back.
Now, with Mosquera and Saliba both potentially out, the Dutchman may have to start at centre-half, which means White will continue at right-back.
If that happens, it would be the first time in 210 days that the former Brighton man has started back-to-back games in the Premier League.
The last time that happened was at the end of the 2024/25 season – he played back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Liverpool. He played four games in a row then.
We’re sure White will be pushing to start against Villa. He will know that a good run of games from now until the end of the season could get him a place in the England World Cup squad.
READ MORE: Ben White did something incredible vs Brentford that Arsenal hadn’t seen for 10 seasons
What changes would you make to our predicted Arsenal XI vs Aston Villa?
Ben White could make a major difference for Arsenal against Aston Villa
Aston Villa have been a hard opponent for Arsenal since Unai Emery became their manager.
The Villans tend to deploy a low block, make it extremely difficult for the Gunners to break them down and then hit them on the counter-attack.
Timber is excellent at what he does, but White’s overlapping runs from right-back could be extremely dangerous against clubs that defend deep against Arsenal.
The Englishman could also reignite his incredible partnership on the right flank with Bukayo Saka, and if they get it right, they could cause Villa all sorts of problems.
The ideal scenario would still be to have Saliba back at centre-half and Timber at right-back, but we think White can make a big difference if he starts as well.
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