Arsenal will try to find their first win of the season under the management of their new manager Unai Emery against West Ham United on Saturday. The fans will be eager to see their team finishing at the winning side at the Emirates. On the other hand, West Ham United will also be eyeing for their first point of the season after two consecutive defeats against Liverpool and Bournemouth.
Today ‘Arsenalcore’ will try to give a glimpse between Shkodran Mustafi and Fabian Balbuena as both the centre backs will battle till the last blood to secure three points for their respective teams, coz in the end that is what matters.
Shkodran Mustafi :
Shkodran has come under criticism multiple times for his vulnerability in the defence. But, he is always tipped to improve week after week and looks like he will stay there for years to come.
Mustafi has to play a key role in Arsenal’s defence this season. Laurent Koscielny will be out of action for until almost December. Arsenal have brought in Sokratis Papastathopoulos this summer and will likely be Arsenal’s first choice alongside Shkodran Mustafi for a considerable amount of time.
In the last few seasons, the defensive lapses have caused the downfall for the Gunners in several occasions. So, Unai Emery will surely be eyeing to strengthen Arsenal’s defensive unit this season.
In the previous match against Chelsea, We did witness the lack of communication between the two centre-backs against Chelsea. In all the three goals of Chelsea there were some mistakes committed by the Arsenal defense that led to it. Pedro and Alonso were unmarked when they scored. On the other hand, Alvaro Morata eased past Shkodran Mustafi to score for the Blues.
Shkodran Mustafi will surely wish to rectify his mistakes of the previous match. Mustafi’s positioning and ability to win the aerial duels are some of the core strengths German defender possess. It will surely come handy against the tall and physical Marko Arnautovic. But, Mustafi certainly needs to reduce his error proneness to be successful for the Gunners.
Fabian Balbuena :
West Ham United have spent big money this summer, bringing in several star players in their squad ahead of this season. Fabian Balbuena is set to be a great addition for West Ham United this summer. The 27 year old Paraguay’s centre back Fabian Balbuena will be key figure in the defense when West Ham faces Arsenal today.
But the performance of West Ham in the first two matches of the season was not up to the mark. They have conceded a total of 6 goals against Liverpool and Bournemouth. Now, the time has come for the newcomer Fabian Balbuena to step up his game.
English Premier League is completely different from the other Leagues played around the World. Here you can’t get much time to settle in, Fabian Balbuena surely has the qualities to be successful in the Premier League. His positioning sense, ability to win aerial duels and ground duels will be crucial in the match against the Gunners.
After two back to back defeats, Manuel Pellegrini will surely concentrate much on their defense. He will certainly opt to keep his defense intact and play counter attacking football against Arsenal at the Emirates. In this system, Fabian Balbuena has to play a key role for West Ham to salvage something from this match.
