Arsenal: Will Wenger settle on a CDM pair?
Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny
For fear of misspelling both of their names, we’ll call Coquelin and Elneny the defensive duo.
Of the Arsenal defensive midfield pairs that have started multiple games together this season, the defensive duo has played the fewest minutes together. But thanks to drastically different outcomes in the two games they started, those minutes have been fascinating.
In a bit of a surprise, the defensive duo was named on the Match Day 1 team sheet against Liverpool. That was the only thing defensive about Liverpool’s 4-3 win at the Emirates.
The game featured everything you’d expect from an Arsenal-Liverpool match. Each team shredded the other for nearly a half-hour at a time and there was prominent ineptitude on both back lines. We also had an Arsenal missed penalty, a ridiculous Philippe Coutinho free kick goal and Jurgen Klopp giving a piggy back ride to Sadio Mane. If you watched the game, you likely broke a sweat.
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Though it wasn’t a game tailor-made for either of their talents, Coquelin was the more impressive of the two while Elneny was subbed off for an aggressive Xhaka midway through the second half.
The obvious drawback to starting the defensive duo is that neither brings much to the attacking table, and last week’s 0-0 home draw with Middlesbrough indicates that.
Though it was by no means a dull nil-nil game, Arsenal never broke through because neither player provided much incisive passing.
Arsenal will be in a similar situation on the road Saturday against Sunderland. The Gunners will likely have over 70 percent possession against a team that will stack players behind the ball.
With Cazorla a major doubt for the game, the defensive duo will likely be on the team sheet for the second league game in a row.