Francis Coquelin loves a tackle, this we know.

Against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday he was on the receiving end of more than his fair share as the Magpies clearly targeted him in a bid to get him to react and, hopefully, sent off.

Learning from the game against Crystal Palace, the Frenchman, however, never once rose to their bait and it was Newcastle who ended up paying the price for their tactics.

 

It will then come as no surprise to learn that out of all the players in the Premier League this season, not one has won more tackles than the Arsenal enforcer.

Voted Man of the Match by Arsenal fans on Arsenal.com, Le Coq has won a league-high 15 tackles this season.

Crunchy.