The Gunners surprise! The North London Derby adjusts the central defender, and the 28-year-old strongman beats the new players in the starting lineup

Although Arsenal are making rapid progress in the Premier League and Champions League, they always seem to be plagued by injuries this season. Arteta's side are playing much better than last year, but are just as unlucky, if not worse, when it comes to injuries. For example, star players such as Havertz, Saka, Odegaard, Jokeres and Madueke have been forced to sit on the sidelines or are still lying in hospital beds. To make matters worse, the Gunners will now be without Gabriel for at least four weeks. However, Arteta has already prepared a replacement for the Brazilian, not the young Mosquera and Incapie, but the "unsparing" Ben White.

As we all know, Gabriel has become one of Arsenal's most important players in recent years with his influence on both offense and defense. In fact, Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher said he was the Premier League's most influential player just last month. Therefore, it is indeed worrying that Arsenal face Tottenham, Bayern and Chelsea next in Gabriel's absence. However, Arteta has enough replacements to fill the giant centre-back void, and one of them could surprise.

Currently, most Arsenal fans believe that Calafioli or Mosquera will be the best candidates to replace Gabriel this weekend. The former has been in excellent form this season and the latter has shown real talent when he comes on. However, in addition to these two, there is a more unexpected choice-Ben White.

Yes, the 28-year-old England iron guard now seems to have become a forgotten person by gun fans. Not long ago, the "Mirror" broke the news that Ben White was on Arsenal's winter window cleaning list. This season, he has only played 6 times, including only 1 Premier League appearance, which was against Manchester United in the first round. He has played most of his time on the right-back, but now he may be called upon to play as a centre-back in the North London derby.

Although he has not played as a central defender for a long time, the last time he started playing as a central defender dates back to October 2024. But he initially joined Arsenal as a central defender and played as a central defender throughout the 2021/22 season, and performed quite well. In fact, the reason why he was moved to the right was due to the emergence of Saliba, and Gabriel was completely unsuitable to play as a full-back.

In addition, by using Ben White as a central defender, Calafiore will not have to leave the left wing where he has performed so well this season. The young Mosquera will not be thrown into one of the tightest games of the season, and the same is true for new signing Incapie. Finally, especially considering the match against Tottenham, the 28-year-old is, as journalist Charles Watts put it, a "master of underhanded tactics". In other words, he's the perfect guy to irritate Tottenham players, make them lose their cool and even get them sent off. Moreover, he has made things particularly difficult for popular goalkeeper Vicario in the past.

In short, Ben White starting in place of Gabriel would be a surprising choice and a risk, but even so, Arteta should still consider starting White at central defender during Gabriel's absence.