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Something which went quite under the radar from Arsenal's emphatic win over Leicester City was Granit Xhaka being played at left back towards the end of the match. You can understand why it's not being talked about, given the other antics which caught the eye.
However, contrary to what many would believe by the prospect, Xhaka actually put in a pretty good stint at left back. The situation in this one is a risky one from Arsenal's perspective, given the fact they have injuries to both regular left-backs, Kolasinac and Monreal.
Arsenal's summer signing Stephan Lichtsteiner came in to fill the left back void last night, but it's fair to say he didn't do too well. Luckily, it wasn't costly for the Gunners, but he definitely prefers to play in his natural position on the right of the defence.
However, as James Maddison and company looked to progress down the left-hand side of Arsenal's third, Unai Emery spotted the problem. It took him until the second half to fix this error, and Arsenal reaped all the benefits afterward.
Lichtsteiner came off in the 61st minute, replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon international went on to score a brace, but it's not the only reason why the substitution was successful from Emery's point of view.
It meant that he was able to trial Xhaka at left back. It does sound strange, but Xhaka didn't look too bad there. His defending is often questioned, but he wasn't tested on that front too much in the last half hour.
It's something which Emery can certainly consider going forward, should Arsenal suffer any more vital injuries. Perhaps it was just a one-off, but nobody should write off Xhaka adopting this position from time to time in the near future.
Overall, it was a near-perfect performance with plenty of positives to take for Arsenal. This is just one of them, and whether or not it transcends throughout the season remains to be seen. Either way, Xhaka can pat himself on the back for dealing with being outside of his comfort zone.
