The Argentine is back to form and fitness, spearheading Man City's assault on the title but the return of the Gunners' French enforcer could be just as key during the run-in
When Alexis Sanchez came off the bench against Chelsea on Sunday, the roar from the Arsenal supporters made it clear how important they feel the Chilean will be to the club’s title hopes.
Alexis is the Gunners’ star player, along with Mesut Ozil, and had not featured since suffering a hamstring injury away against Norwich at the end of November.
It is a timely return, with 15 matches left in the Premier League season and Arsenal currently third in the table there will be plenty of opportunity for the Chilean to make a decisive impact.
Alexis is a matchwinner and, if fit and on-form, could make a huge impact in the run-in to the end of the campaign.
But the return of an even more important player is on the horizon.
Francis Coquelin was not expected to return from knee ligament damage until early March but the 24-year-old is now back in full training and could even feature in the FA Cup fixture against Burnley on Saturday.
Coquelin has been training for a week with the rest of the first-team squad and Arsene Wenger is weighing up whether to ease him back against Burnley or to give him 45 minutes for the under-21s against Stoke on Saturday.
Either way, Coquelin should be fit enough for a place on the substitutes’ bench when Arsenal host Southampton in the Premier League next Tuesday looking for their first league win in four matches.
Should Coquelin play, the statistics point in Arsenal’s favour. His early comeback could bring the Premier League trophy to north London.
Mathieu Flamini has done as well as could have been expected since Coquelin hobbled off during the 2-1 defeat away at West Brom in November, but Arsenal have badly missed their enforcer, particularly away from home.
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Arsenal have won 67.6 per cent of their 34 league matches in which Coquelin has featured, compared to a win rate of just 44.4% without him.
The difference is even more stark in away games - a win percentage of 64.7% with Coquelin against 35.7% without him. While Arsenal concede an average of one goal a game away from home when the Frenchman plays, that rises to 1.4 per game when he is abscent.
So no wonder Arsenal have struggled without Coquelin over the last two months, particularly on the road.
Including the West Brom match when Coquelin suffered his injury in the 14th minute, Arsenal have won just one of their six Premier League away matches in his absence - and that was against rock bottom Aston Villa.
It is only 13 months since Coquelin was recalled from a loan spell at Charlton and Wenger is thought to have almost given up on him before Arsenal’s annual injury crisis opened the door.
Coquelin has made since himself indispensable to Arsenal in his defensive midfield role, providing a brilliant screen for the back four and giving the side’s attacking players the platform to express themselves.
Since the start of last season, Coquelin has made an average of 3.24 tackles per game compared for 1.89 for Flamini. Likewise, he makes 3.26 interceptions as opposed to 2.06 for his team-mate.
Coquelin’s influence is again even more stark away from home. The only statistic in which Flamini betters his compatriot is blocks, which suggests that Arsenal find themselves in more desperate defensive situations when Coquelin does not feature.
There are also the intangibles. Coquelin is a winner, a warrior, the kind of player that will lead by example and demand that his team-mates raise their game during difficult moments. He is someone you would go to battle with and exactly the type of character Arsenal have been missing lately, not least in the 4-0 defeat at Southampton, the 3-3 draw at Liverpool and Sunday's loss to Chelsea.
Much has been made of the importance of Alexis’ return for the title race, particularly in the context of Sergio Aguero now being fit and leading Manchester City’s charge towards the top prize in English football.
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