Arsenal 2017-18 Premier League season preview: How they will line up, new signings, transfer targets, prediction

James Benge11 August 2017

Arsene Wenger’s 22nd season at the Arsenal helm begins in familiar fashion, with the sense that his side are still just short of what they need for a title challenge.

Even though they are confined to the Europa League for the first time since 2000, the expectations remain the same at the Emirates: Champions League football as a minimum with the title as a professed aim.

Alexandre Lacazette has arrived to £53million of fanfare, while Sead Kolasinac looks on course to be the bargain buy of the summer after his free transfer from Schalke.

It also seems increasingly likely that Alexis Sanchez will stay for at least another year, joining Mesut Ozil and Lacazette in a formidable front three with exceptional options in reserve.

But is the defence solid enough to weather the worst storms of the winter months? Can Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey be the engine room of champions? Regardless of how Arsenal kick off the new season - and it could hardly be worse than in recent years - it will take time before anyone is convinced this side is the real deal after so many false dawns.

Likely starting XI

After stumbling on the back three at their lowest ebb pre-season would seem to suggest the formation is here to stay. Despite suggesting he would start some games with a four-man defence Wenger stuck to the back three throughout the season.

He will hope the defensive solidity the switch brought in April and May lasts longer but much will depend on the fitness of Laurent Koscielny, whose Achilles problems will be with him throughout the career.

The back three will also mean a fight between Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac for two wing-back role. It may just be the former, out of contract, who misses out. Further forward Arsenal's strikeforce, if fully fit, looks more intimidating than it has in over a decade.

Arsenal XI (3-4-2-1): Cech; Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal; Bellerin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Kolasinac; Ozil, Sanchez; Lacazette

New signings

Kolasinac scores his first Arsenal goal in the Community Shield
Getty Images

Sead Kolasinac: Zero competitive games into his Arsenal career and the ‘Bosnian Hulk’ is already a cult hero at the Emirates. Perhaps that is a reflection of the speed with which judgements are formed in 2017, but equally it is hard for the Gunners faithful not to get carried away with a player so atypical to the left-backs they have seen before.

"He is a presence,” club captain Per Mertesacker told Standard Sport. “He fits well into this team because he’s a great character. His physique… yeah he’s massive but also quick.”

It is fair to say that the days when opponents knew they could craft a chance with nothing more complex than a crossfield ball for their right winger to claim ahead of Arsenal’s left-back are well and truly over.

Alexandre Lacazette: Arsenal’s record signing finally arrived in early July after years of speculation linking the then-Lyon striker with a move to the Emirates.

The Gunners had bid a mere £29m a year ago, and could end up having paid another £24m for the 26-year-old who is so far yet to take Olivier Giroud’s starting spot in the French national team. That may speak more to the particular set of skills the 30-year-old offers Didier Deschamps than any weakness in Lacazette’s game, but it is a reminder that the new signing has doubters to convince.

First impressions have been largely encouraging, two goals in pre-season and a solid display in the Community Shield - where his curling effort around Gary Cahill deserved to find the net rather than crack back of the post - constituting solid building blocks.

Transfer targets

Thomas Lemar: Arsenal’s No.1 target, with good reason, is the Monaco winger who was one of the star players in the principality’s pursuit of the Ligue 1 title. Naturally a left winger, Lemar could also be adapted into a central midfielder.

Progress towards a deal has stalled in recent weeks, with Monaco insistent that they will not sell Lemar after losing four first-teamers. That stance could be changed… but only with a club record fee of around £60m.

Alternatives: Wenger has professed his interest in Riyad Mahrez, valued at £50m by Leicester, but it is hard to see how the Algerian could fit into Arsenal’s already overloaded attack.

Central midfield appears to be the area where an upgrade is most obviously available, perhaps explaining the ongoing links with Nice dynamo Jean Seri.

But Wenger has already admitted his focus in the coming weeks is on trimming a first-team squad of 32. Lucas Perez, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy are all free to leave.

Prediction

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