Arsenal travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal will give Liverpool a guard of honour before the clash on Merseyside, to congratulate Arne Slot’s team on their Premier League title triumph.
While Arteta’s side need to ensure they don’t lose their place in the top-five, attentions will somewhat turn towards preparing for next season.
This could prompt the Spaniard to experiment with a few things in Arsenal’s remaining three fixtures, starting in the game in the north-west.
- READ MORE: Predicted Arsenal lineup and XI vs Liverpool as Mikel Arteta makes Myles Lewis-Skelly decision
Mikel Arteta should start Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield against Liverpool
With next season now the primary focus for Arteta, he should take a look at certain things in what is left of this campaign.
Jorginho is set to leave Arsenal at the end of the season when his contract expires, while Thomas Partey is yet to sign a new deal.
That means that the Gunners will need options in the middle of the park that they don’t currently have, and Arteta ought to explore some internal candidates for these central roles.
Myles Lewis-Skelly has impressed at left-back this season, but the teenager was raised as a midfielder and should be trialled in this position against Liverpool and beyond.
Struggling at times in Paris, Lewis-Skelly’s best qualities are also some of his most risky, but these risks would be negated somewhat further up the pitch.
Excellent at drawing pressure, turning away from this pressure and carrying upfield, he is occasionally guilty of losing the ball when doing this, which can be dangerous when he’s in a left-back spot.
In midfield, this tool could be even more effective at getting Arsenal up the pitch, while moving Lewis-Skelly into this role also allows the maverick Riccardo Calafiori to come into the side.
While it’d be all well and good experimenting with this positional change on the final day against Southampton, Arteta needs to see whether it can stand up against high quality opposition, such as Liverpool.
Thomas Partey shouldn’t play for Arsenal again this season
Thomas Partey produced a dire display for Arsenal against PSG, costing the Gunners Achraf Hakimi’s goal by trying a bizarre pirouette on the edge of his own box.
Contract talks appear to have gone quiet, and it’s possible that the Emirates hierarchy are reconsidering offering him a new deal.
Regardless, Martin Zubimendi is set to sign for Arsenal, meaning the Ghanaian’s role in the side is likely to be minimal even if he does remain at the club.
Arteta should begin to reduce Arsenal’s reliance on the player in the last three fixtures of this season, and instead look to the future by blooding Lewis-Skelly.
There is very little reason to use Partey in the remaining games, and he should remain on the bench.
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