Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta must consider starting Ben White against Brentford, although there may be "one doubt" that prevents him from doing so, Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.
The Gunners return to their Emirates home on Wednesday evening seeking a return to winning ways in the Premier League after an underwhelming 1-1 draw with 10-man Chelsea on Sunday evening.
Ben White was an unused substitute for the 10th Premier League game in a row at Stamford Bridge, and the 28-year-old has not made a top-flight appearance since the opening weekend in the Gunners' 1-0 win over Manchester United.
White has made appearances in the EFL Cup and Champions League since, but Watts believes that the time is nigh for the right-back to finally return to top-flight action, although he has questioned whether Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba's absences could sway Arteta's thinking.
"There's definitely scope to make a couple of changes," Watts said. "I keep saying now I'd like to see Ben White play, but we're just seeing no evidence that that is going to happen.
Arsenal vs. Brentford: "One doubt" over Ben White start
“It feels like it needs to happen very, very quickly - Timber cannot continue starting. There’s going to be a point where he [White] is going to have to start. With all due respect to Brentford, it does feel like this is a game to potentially do it.
“One doubt in my mind is if you do have this relatively new centre-back pairing, do you stick with Timber? You’d imagine White will certainly play in Brugge, but I'd be looking at that."
White would be an alternate option at centre-back in place of Gabriel - guaranteed to miss out with a hamstring injury - and Saliba, who only has a slim chance of returning from his knock in time for the London derby.
Instead, Arteta placed his faith in new signings Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera, both of whom got booked in the first half but otherwise performed competently against the Club World Cup winners.
Whichever defensive combination starts on Wednesday is likely to come up against hotshot Igor Thiago, whose 11 Premier League goals in the 2025-26 season puts him second in the race for the Golden Boot, only behind Erling Haaland.
Arsenal vs. Brentford: Should Mikel Arteta change centre-backs?
White, Timber and Riccardo Calafiori are all capable of playing centrally, but Watts has urged Arteta to ignore calls for changes in that area and persist with the Spaniard and the South American.
“I thought they came through Sunday pretty well," Watts added. "That was a really testing environment for them. They did look edgy - they probably wouldn't have known they were going to start together until the night before; Saliba's injury happened so late.
“In the last 20, 25 minutes, we really started to see certainly Hincapie's fiery character come out. He looked more at home in that surrounding. But Thiago's got a fantastic record, he'll be full of confidence, so they'll have to be on it. But I've seen people say, do we need to change the centre-backs? Bring Ben White in or move Timber?
“No. They've had one game together – this is why we signed them. You don't throw it out after one game, when they didn't do too badly. So absolutely stick with them, and I'm more than confident they'll be able to deal with what they have to deal with.”
The likes of Martin Odegaard, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and potentially even Gabriel Jesus could be options for change on Wednesday, and Watts made a prediction on the latter following his recovery from an ACL injury.
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