With Laurent Koscielny set to return to the fold following his three-match suspension, we look at just how crucial the centre-back is to Arsenal’s starting XI.

After getting sent off for a stupid challenge against Everton during the final Premier League game of last season, Arsenal fans were dreading the FA Cup final at Wembley against the title holders, Chelsea.

It turned out fine; Arsenal won 2-1. Better than fine, since Per Mertesacker is an actual beast, but regardless of that fact, our initial fear over not having the defender who had been captain all season left out for such a big game was still warranted.

Back in 2014/2015, Arsenal’s win percentage in the Premier League with Kos was a whopping 73% and just 39% without him.

So let’s look at the Gunners’ ability to win without him since.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo3ZncA9Cb4

Out of the 61 games Kos played a full 90 minutes in since 2014/15, Arsenal have won 38 games. That’s 62.3%.

Meanwhile, the Gunners have only won seven out of the 15 games he either wasn’t in the squad for or didn’t play a whole 90 minutes. 46.6%.

This makes sense since Kos has seemed slightly off his game or potentially unfit for a couple of seasons, which would explain the win % dropping. However, as you can see, he’s still vital to Arsenal’s first team.

Hopefully we’ll see him against Liverpool.