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My predicted Arsenal XI to take on Brighton

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Arsenal take on Brighton later this afternoon at the Amex Stadium in the Boxing Day fixtures.

The Gunners got back to winning ways on Sunday after beating Burnley 3-1 at the Emirates, and Unai Emery will be hoping to bag all three points against a tricky Brighton side today.

A win or draw for Arsenal would see them climb back into the top four for a few hours with Chelsea playing Watford tonight, while Brighton, who currently sit 13th in the Premier League table, would stay in the same position with a positive result but push themselves further adrift of the relegation zone.

Rob Holding (knee), Konstantinos Mavropanos (groin), Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring), Hector Bellerin (calf), Danny Welbeck (leg) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (metatarsal) are all ruled out for selection today, while Nacho Monreal (hamstring) will be assessed ahead of the game.

So, with injuries to think about and a trip away to Liverpool up next (on the 29th), what should Arsenal’s starting XI look like today?

Here is my predicted line-up:

Leno

Lichtsteiner          Sokratis          Koscielny

Maitland-Niles          Torreira          Xhaka          Kolasinac

Iwobi                                 Ozil

Aubameyang

Bernd Leno has started most of Arsenal’s Premier League games up to now so there is no reason for him not to today.

With so many injuries to Arsenal’s defensive players, Stephan Lichtsteiner must play as a centre-back alongside Sokratis and Laurent Koscienly, who didn’t feature at all on Sunday against Burnley.

The wing-backs should be Sead Kolasinac on the left and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the right.

Lucas Torreira alongside Granit Xhaka in midfield with Alex Iwobi and Mesut Ozil supporting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front.

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