Who should our back four be against AC Milan now that Per is out?

So we have suffered yet another injury to our defence which will cause fresh problems for Arsene Wenger come Wednesday night.

German centre-back Per Mertesacker, who suffered suspected ankle ligament damage against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon, has officially been ruled out of the AC Milan by Wenger:

‘For sure he is out for Wednesday.’

It is unknown how long Per will be out for, but I have feeling it is going to be for a couple of weeks, maybe months before we see him back in action, especially given his height and the fact that he left the Stadium of Light on crutches.

However, things are not as bad as they may seem as Laurent Koscielny has done a terrific job in our defence this season. We also have Kieran Gibbs back fit and available and because of this it is now possible for Thomas Vermaelen to take up his familiar role as centre-back.

Nevertheless I don’t think Gibbs, who just returned from a long-term injury, is (in my opinion) ready for such a test. So maybe Francis Coquelin is the way to go. The young Frenchman is another possible option for Arsene to consider, as the defensive midfielder has played in the full-back position on a number of occasions already this season. It would undoubtedly be a big game for Coquelin, but he does look the favourite in my book.

In my opinion, our back-line for the game against AC Milan will/should look like this:

Sagna         Koscielny          Vermaelen          Coquelin

Koscielny is a certainty and I think Wenger will shift Vermaelen back to the centre for this game at least. The main reason why I picked Coquelin over Gibbs is very simple, the 20-year-old Frenchman, who has been a revelation for us in the full-back role this season, has much more match fitness and game time than that of the 22-year-old Englishman.

How do you think our back four should look like on Wednesday? Would you play Gibbs or stick in Coquelin at left-back? Maybe Sagna should go to left-back and Coquelin does to right-back?

Give us your thoughts on the matter

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