Granit Xhaka does not need nostalgia to hurt Arsenal on Saturday. He needs Arsenal to press him exactly as they normally would.
That is the uncomfortable part of the reunion.
Xhaka spent seven years at Arsenal and several of them inside Arteta’s positional game. He knows the habits behind the obvious picture. He knows when Arsenal want the striker to curve the first press, when the attacking midfielder jumps towards the holding player and which pass is being offered because Arsenal want the next one.
Sunderland now use him as the player who decides whether they accept that invitation.
The numbers from the opening three league games tell you where their possession runs. Xhaka leads Sunderland for touches, completed passes, passes into the box and chances created. He is their control point. If Arsenal want to suffocate Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, they have to disturb him without making the disturbance predictable.
That sounds easier than it is.
Arteta’s press often wins because the first action is designed to shape the second. A centre-back is allowed one pass because Arsenal want the receiver facing the wrong way. The winger blocks the obvious outlet. The midfielder steps when the ball travels. The trap is built before the tackle happens.
Xhaka has lived inside that logic.
His obvious weakness has never disappeared either. Put fast pressure onto his first touch from the blind side and he can be forced into a hurried action. Arsenal know that as well as anybody. The temptation will be to attack that history, send Ødegaard or a forward hard towards him and turn the crowd against Sunderland’s build-up.
That is where the trap can reverse.
Xhaka’s best weapon is still the left foot that can remove several opponents with one pass. Sunderland used him last season as a deep controller who could drop towards the back line, then play forward or switch the point of attack. If Arsenal overcommit the first jump and Sunderland give him a clean angle, the press can become the space he is trying to create.
The dangerous ball may not be into a striker’s feet. It may be the pass beyond Arsenal’s pressure towards the opposite side, where the full-back has stepped and the winger has narrowed. One accurate diagonal can turn a beautifully organised press into a sprint towards Raya.
Malick Fofana makes that more interesting. Sunderland now have a winger Arsenal considered buying and chose not to. If Xhaka can attract pressure centrally and release Fofana before Arsenal’s back line has reset, the two most obvious Sunderland storylines become one tactical problem.
Arsenal should resist treating Xhaka like a generic deep midfielder.
The better plan is to vary the picture. Let him receive cleanly once, then close the next one. Show pressure from Ødegaard and have the winger take the forward pass. Force Sunderland to guess which lane Arsenal actually want to remove. Familiarity only becomes an advantage when the familiar thing keeps happening.
There is also a reason Arsenal should be confident. Xhaka knows Arteta’s football, but Arteta knows every movement Xhaka would prefer. He knows which shoulder the midfielder checks before switching play. He knows how much space Xhaka wants before opening his body. He spent years building structures around those details.
That makes this more interesting than the usual former-player reunion.
Sunderland do not need Xhaka to dominate possession. They need him to survive Arsenal’s first wave often enough that the crowd starts believing the press can be played through. Arsenal do not need to tackle him every time. They need to prevent his first clean escape from becoming a pattern.
The battle will be decided before most viewers notice it. Watch the first five times Xhaka receives facing his own goal. Watch who jumps. Watch which pass Arsenal leave open. Then watch whether Sunderland take it.
If Arsenal press Xhaka like a stranger, they deserve the problem he gives them.
Gerry G – Goonerviews
