Arsenal: Will Wenger settle on a CDM pair?

Francis Coquelin and Granit Xhaka

The most uninspiring Arsenal attacking display did not feature Coquelin and Elneny. Instead, the Gunners and all the viewers of the Arsenal-Leicester City game on Match Day 2 have Coquelin and Xhaka to partially thank.

With both teams desperate to claim a point following opening match defeats, the anticipated rematch of last year’s top two teams turned into a grind. However, the match’s style set up well for Coquelin, who tackled and intercepted his way to a Man of the Match performance.

For discipline reasons, Xhaka and Coquelin is a pairing we’re unlikely to see again in the starting lineup anytime soon.

Though he’s been a favorite of Wenger’s since his out-of-nowhere emergence in the second half of the 2014-15 season, Coquelin has a track record of getting cautioned rather frequently. Other than the complete lack of goal production, it’s the main flaw in his game.

That said, he’s the more disciplined of the two.

Upon his early summer arrival at Arsenal, the Xhaka hype machine was fueled by positives such as his work rate, his passing range and his natural leadership quality. If there was a negative, it was that he saw red all too often.

Last year while captaining Borussia Mönchengladbach, Xhaka was sent off three times, raising some red flags about his game, so to speak.

After getting called for four fouls in his first league appearance for Arsenal, it didn’t take the Swiss midfielder long to earn his first EPL red card.

Against Swansea City two weeks ago, Xhaka made a rash tackle from behind near midfield. He was sent off as 10-man Arsenal were left to sweat out a 3-2 home win over the Swans.

Xhaka has not played in a game since.