The knee injury Francis Coquelin suffered this weekend away to West Bromwich Albion could cost Arsenal dearly in their bid for the title.
The Frenchman has been pivotal for the Gunners in the past 12 months, giving them the required physicality they have missed since the departure of Patrick Vieira.
The 24-year-old was arguably outperforming Nemanja Matic for the last six months of last season, with the Chelsea man being considered to be the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League since his arrival from Benfica.
By March, Coquelin had won 48.6% of his tackles compared to Matic, who had won 41.6%, and won a higher percentage of aerial duels despite being six inches smaller.
Arsene Wenger will struggle in finding Coquelin replacement
Sky Sports pundit, Gary Neville, said English teams in the Champions League were underperforming due to a lack of ‘fight’. This side of the game is crucial for any side to achieve their full potential and this was made extremely evident during Liverpool’s recent 4-1 win over Manchester City.
Manuel Pellegrini opted to drop Brazilian Fernandinho from his starting XI and, as a result his midfield, was overrun by constant counter attacks. Fernandinho, like Coquelin, provides the back four with extra protection and has an element of discipline to his game.
The embarrassment City endured may soon be suffered by Arsenal as those who may be asked to fill the Frenchman's shoes lacking the traits to effectively break-up play. With Arsene Wenger lining his side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in spite of recent injuries to his first team squad, it is likely that the Gunners will need another central midfielder to partner a faltering Santi Cazorla. Aaron Ramsey is normally deployed on the right hand side but can play centrally, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has also expressed his desire to play in the middle while Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini offer other options. Barring the latter, who may lack the technical ability to feature weekly for this side, defensive options are now sparse.
It was announced that the Frenchman has been ruled out for a minimum of two months and could miss up to 10 league games against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Southampton and Liverpool. With Champions League ties also added into the equation, the squad are likely to suffer from fatigue if the 24-year-old is sidelined for the full eight weeks. Wins against Manchester City last season, Chelsea in the Community Shield and most recently Manchester United have displayed his importance to a team gunning for the title this campaign.
With the back four also lacking consistency, keeping four clean sheets from a possible six in October to conceding eight in three games this month, it could spell a rough period for the north London outfit.
Coquelin joins a long injury list which includes Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta. A tough few months certainly lie ahead for Arsenal but if they can remain within touching distance of first position upon Coquelin’s return, they could win the title.