You might think I’m being something even beyond maverick, but bear with me here – are Arsenal players better options than we might think?

I know they were absolutely dreadful last year (I know this better than most being a fan) but in the second half of the season, they actually performed better than you would necessarily expect considering their final league position. They came third in attained points, only finishing behind Man City and Man Utd and were significantly harder to beat.

The stats back me up with this too.

In addition, this season they aren’t in Europe at all, meaning their risk of rotation is lessened. The likes of Saka, Smith Rowe and Pepe are highly likely to see significant minutes this season, especially given how well they ended the previous one and the lack of serious alternatives.

A case for the defence

As the above stats suggest, Arsenal’s defence performed better than most people assume, especially in the second half of the season. Players like Tierney (at 5.0m) should certainly be considered, not only for the defensive possibilities but also for potential assists and even the odd goal too. Should Arsenal sign a right back, depending on their price, they could well be a decent option too.

The player I’m looking at the most is Ben White. Should he complete his long-rumoured transfer to the Emirates, he will be a stand-out option at just 4.5m. That’s a great way into a defence that should perform better than last season.

What about the attack?

He may have had an incredibly poor season by his standards but I actually believe that Aubameyang is actually a viable target again now that he’s been moved back to a forward in FPL. We are starved of premium striking options, aside from Kane and Vardy, so when the fixtures improve for the Gunners, he wouldn’t be the worst choice if you want to upgrade your attack.

Given the quality of the Gabonese striker, I’d be very surprised if he performed as poorly as he did last year. Call it a hunch but I feel that several midfield additions this summer will make a huge difference to his output in the 2021/22 season.

Arsenal’s first 10 fixtures aren’t the greatest, I grant you, but they do have some juicy fixtures in and around their games against rivals so don’t be surprised if a few of their players score more points than you’d expect and become potential options for us all. Obviously, if you’ve already got one or more of them before others bring them in, you could be onto a winner.