Injuries are part and parcel of football. Arsenal experienced a fair share of them throughout the 2021/22 season with two, in particular, proving to be costly.
During the festive period when Granit Xhaka returned to action and after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was phased out when Mikel Arteta had a fully fit squad available for selection, it didn't take a lot of guesswork with regards to what was his strongest starting XI week-in, week-out.
In fact, the only position that was up for debate was on the left-hand side of the front three with Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli in direct competition to start alongside Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette - then Eddie Nketiah towards the end of the season.
