Interesting report from Metro who released some statistics, with help from Squawka comparing Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin and Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic and the results are surprising.

The former Charlton loanee trumped Matic in every category in a %per game stats comparison. Granted it was a comparison of Matic’s 20 games against Coquelin’s 6 however it certainly shows that Coquelin could well be what Arsenal were looking for in midfield.

Coquelin lead the way with a total of 3.91 tackles made per game, ahead of Matic’s 2.90. The young Frenchman also won 3.61 duels in the air in comparison to 1.55 from Chelsea’s towering midfielder. Francis Coquelin has won a total of 58.49% of his duels in the last 6 games, eclipsing that of 48.54% from Nemanja Matic.

The stats were further impressive for Coquelin when it came to interceptions and clearances. Coquelin recently broke back into the first team since his loan spell and has made 3.31 clearances and 3.31 interceptions per game, beating the score of Matic by some margin.

He also beat Matic by making 0.10 more blocks per game that Matic with 0.30.

These recent statistics are certainly reassuring for the young defensive midfielder. He is quickly becoming a favourite with the Arsenal faithful and with early showings that produce stats of this level, it’s no surprise.

Coquelin could be Arsenal’s answer to their woes defensively and since he has come into the squad, he has certainly added to the team. He is strong and aggressive defensively and can also distribute the ball fairly well.

Let’s not get carried away with these statistics as they are only for six games, not twenty. But I will say this, if you want to make a claim to be a first team regular, producing statistics like this will certainly help your cause. Let’s hope Coquelin can keep this sparkling form up for the Gunners.