Calum Chambers is primed to deputise in a midfield holding role should Arsenal’s injury crisis deepen over the festive period.
Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey are likely to anchor the Gunners’ 4-2-3-1 system in their must-win Champions League clash against Olympiakos tomorrow night.
But Arsene Wenger is likely to rotate that pairing at some point given they face six matches before the end of the month, starting with a vital trip to Athens.
Standard Sport revealed on November 27 that Arsenal had begun using Chambers as a defensive midfielder in training and that experiment has continued with Santi Cazorla joining Francis Coquelin, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere on the sidelines. Chambers was bought from Southampton in the summer of 2014 primarily as a centre-back, although he also played at right-back prior to Hector Bellerin’s emergence.
Wenger has repeatedly stated his belief that Chambers’s long-term future will be as a defensive midfielder; he was first tried there in January and has also recently represented England Under-21s and had first-team cameos against Dinamo Zagreb and Sunderland.
It would be a huge gamble, however, were manager Wenger to use Chambers tomorrow night given the stakes.
Arsenal must win by a score of 3-2 or better to qualify for the last 16 for the 16th consecutive season.
Flamini and Ramsey both trained at London Colney this morning prior to the team’s four-hour flight to Greece and barring any last-minute injury problems they will expect to start.
Arsene Wenger's worst European results
Theo Walcott is also available and it is understood the England forward has declared himself fully fit to start. Walcott made his first appearance since October 27 with a 26-minute cameo against Sunderland on Saturday.
The 26-year-old suffered a calf injury in Arsenal’s Capital One Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and although the club have been cautious about bringing him back into action, Walcott believes he is ready to be involved from the outset against Olympiakos.
