Arsenal face a tricky trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday to face Crystal Palace as Mikel Arteta looks for their third consecutive win across all competitions.
It was a difficult start for the Spanish tactician as the Gunners were held to back-to-back draws before losing to Chelsea in disappointing fashion.
SEE MORE: Mesut Ozil takes thinly veiled swipe at Unai Emery as he praises Mikel Arteta’s impact
However, they turned things around with a crucial win over Man Utd before seeing off Leeds Utd in the FA Cup on Monday, and so now they’ll hope to continue to build momentum and put a run together to put themselves firmly back in contention for a top-four finish in the Premier League this season.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Arteta has put out a strong starting XI, as seen in the club’s tweet below, and importantly he is now starting to settle and get some consistency after making no changes from their last league outing.
That means Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will lead the attack, and so Palace will no doubt have their hands full in trying to keep a clean sheet.
However, as has been the problem for Arsenal for most of this season, it remains to be seen if they can keep things tight at the back themselves having already conceded 30 goals in 21 league games, giving them the joint-worst defensive record of the top 10 sides in the standings.
? Unchanged from our last @premierleague game
?? Papa partners David Luiz
? Granit, Lucas and Mesut in the middle
?? Pepe, Laca and Auba are up top#CRYARS— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 11, 2020
As seen in the tweets below, it seems as though the starting XI went down well with most Arsenal fans as they praised Arteta and acknowledged the fact that it’s good to see an unchanged side to build some consistency and solidity in the line-up.
Time will tell though if that results in another win, as Arsenal can’t afford to slip up if they wish to close the gap on their rivals in the battle for a Champions League qualification spot.
Finally have a concrete starting eleven…already done more than emery
— gabriel martinpele (@Pepe___SZN) January 11, 2020
WHAT A TEAM LETS GO!!!!
On a level though, how has Arteta found his best starting eleven in 4 games yet it took Emery over 18 months? My manager.
— TheArseneView (@TheArseneView) January 11, 2020
Our best possible lineup. THANK YOU MIKEL
— William (fan account) (@OzilThings) January 11, 2020
This is the lineup we want ???Martinelli to come in for Laca 2nd half
— Gooner_Eurychus??? ™ (@Gooner_Eurychus) January 11, 2020
So refreshing seeing these line-ups every week. Sick of the garbage Emery used to put out.
— David (@Davo_614) January 11, 2020
Perfect lineup
— Zak? (@ZakAFC__) January 11, 2020
LETS GOOO, WHAT A LINEUP, COME ON YOU GUNNERS
— ~ (@SauciestLaca) January 11, 2020
Imagine, we play the same winning team two weeks in a row. Haven’t seen that in forever?
— KING (@_IKENNA_) January 11, 2020
Nice to see consistent lineups again unlike under Emery when there would be changes every week! Let’s win this! ?
— A (@invincibles_0L) January 11, 2020
Two identical starting IXs in a row Emery could never
— Henry’s Lost Son (@sebastiankivel) January 11, 2020
Can someone please find when we had an unchanged 11 last, arteta trying to bring consistency COYG??
— Freddie (@afcfrxddie) January 11, 2020