Mohamed Diame and Jonjo Shelvey
Few could have envisaged Diame and Shelvey ending the campaign as Benitez’s first-choice midfield axis, but the duo complement each other exquisitely and have provided a steadying presence in the United engine room that has filtered through the entire team.
Much of Arsenal’s play is orchestrated through the middle of the pitch, putting the spotlight firmly on Diame and Shelvey to break up the flow of the game and disturb the Gunners’ attacking rhythm and particular attention will need to be focused on the dangerous forward surges of Aaron Ramsey.
Diame has excelled at playing the ‘enforcer’ role and his protective shielding has granted license to Shelvey to contribute more in attack and dictate the games, that equilibrium culminating in the latter scoring his first goal at Leicester last weekend.
A similar arrangement on Sunday could see Shelvey, whose own defensive contributions haven’t gone unnoticed, do some serious damage to the Gunners with his clever use of the ball and expansive range of passing.
