The Swiss player got his first start for the Arsenal and did not disappoint.

It is quite obvious why he was signed and he duly delivered, and he wasn’t even booked, which was kind of expected.

As we all know, one of the criticisms levelled at the club is the softness of the team in comparison to the previous successful Arsenal sides. Midfield has often been highlighted as one of those areas. It is clear that Granit Xhaka has improved the club in that respect.

On the statistical side, he had a very good first half completing 36 out of his 45 passes. Most of them, of course were lateral ones rather than vertical.

via FFT Statszone
via FFT Statszone
Screenshot_2016-08-20-20-47-02
via FFT Statszone
Screenshot_2016-08-20-20-47-02
via FFT Statszone

When he was substituted in the 73rd minute and replaced by Wilshere, there was certainly a lot of positives to take from his game. He won nine balls, second only behind Danny Drinkwater with 14, and his passing final stats were 58 out of 73.

What was important in the game was that he was reading the play well, allowing him to get into defensive positions early and clearly added a physical element in the game against a strong Leicester side.

He will certainly have to work on his partnership either with Coquelin or Elneny, but from what we saw on Saturday, there is certainly hope that he will have strong influence in midfield and become one of the missing pieces from the Arsenal puzzle.