Ray Parlour thinks 27-year-old Arsenal player will start against Manchester City

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Ray Parlour thinks Arsenal defender Rob Holding will start against Manchester City in their crunch title clash tomorrow night.

Holding has stepped in for the injured William Saliba over the past few weeks after spending the majority of the campaign watching on from the bench.

The 27-year-old has been relatively solid in the Frenchman’s absence, but there has been a noticeable drop-off in quality.

Arsenal have conceded seven goals in their last three games with Holding and Gabriel in central defence, which has led to suggestions that Mikel Arteta could think about a change of system ahead of tomorrow’s clash.

But with Takehiro Tomiyasu also sidelined, Arteta is quite limited in terms of his options at right-back and Ray Parlour feels this will mean that Holding starts at centre-back once again tomorrow night.

Parlour thinks Holding will start tomorrow

Speaking on the David Seaman podcast, Parlour explained why he thinks Holding will start at the Etihad Stadium. 

“The move that Mikel Arteta might have made is Ben White going centre-half. Rob Holding is an experienced pro and does his best,” the Arsenal legend said.

“But it’s interesting what Arteta is going to do. I’m sure if they had Tomiyasu at right-back, they might have gone with Ben White at centre-half, but they haven’t.

“I think they will go with Rob Holding if I’m honest.”

Arsenal have certainly missed Saliba over the past few weeks as they have dropped six points in their last three Premier League games.

The Frenchman had started in every single league game before his injury, alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.

While Holding hasn’t exactly been a liability, Arsenal have just looked far worse off without Saliba at the back.

But Arteta will have to find a way to get a result against City tomorrow night without him, or they risk losing their grip on the title.