3 ways the 2016 MLS All-Star team could line up against Arsenal

Major League Soccer announced its 26-man roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game on Sunday, with plenty of star players making the cut, and others, like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, not being called in to the final team.

Related: MLS announces 2016 All-Star team roster

The MLS All-Star team takes on Arsenal on July 28 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, and while All-Star teams of the past have found some success against Premier League opposition, the Gunners present a unique challenge in 2016.

Here are three ways head coach Dominic Kinnear could line up his XI:

The well-balanced 4-2-3-1

It's the most popular formation in the world at the moment, and it's a system that requires a healthy mix of defensive- and offensive-minded players, something that isn't very easy to find in the MLS All-Star team roster.

A four-man backline composed of central defenders is helped by two central midfielders, while the members of the attacking quartet each offer a unique skill set that should complement one another quite well. Kaka and David Villa proved a strong combination in last year's affair, and Sebastian Giovinco starts out wide on the right this time around.

Some star power is sacrificed for stability in this formation, as Giovani Dos Santos loses out and Jermaine Jones starts in midfield.

The all-in 3-5-2

In this formation, stability is thrown out the window in favor of an all-out attack that features almost every single star player available to Kinnear, with the exception of Andrea Pirlo.

In a formation featuring Giovinco, Kaka, Dos Santos, Villa, and Didier Drogba, the two central midfielders need to be mobile, something Darlington Nagbe most certainly is and Pirlo most certainly is not.

The four-man back four is now reduced to three and Kendall Waston is added instead of Steve Birnbaum or Liam Ridgewell, mainly due to his size.

The false nine 4-3-3

This formation gets rid of Drogba and replaces his hefty frame up top with the attacking prowess of "The Atomic Ant."

Giovinco, the league's MVP in 2015, is in something of a scoring slump, but should he find his form once more against D.C. United on July 23, he might just prove the star figure against Arsenal.

Villa and Dos Santos act as forwards with wing strength, while Pirlo is marshaled by Jones and Nagbe. It's the Pirlo-Giovinco combination that pays off here, and Waston replaces Birnbaum for size while Andrew Farrell starts as a natural right full-back to at least help close down some of Arsenal's fearsome wingers.