Against Brighton, Granit Xhaka made his 42nd consecutive Premier League start, raising questions about why Arsene Wenger is so insistent on playing him whatever the scenario.

Nailed-on starter

The last time Xhaka failed to start a Premier League match for Arsenal was over a year ago, in a February match against Hull City.

Even then, he was only out through suspension.

To find the last league game where Wenger chose not to start him we have to go back to November 2016.

Over the weekend, Martin Keown said the fact that Xhaka is an “ever-present” in the team proves Wenger trusts him, but he added that he feels the midfielder has let his manager down this season.

Keown said the 25-year-old “gives the ball away, makes rash challenges, [and] gets booked too often”.

Xhaka isn’t useless or undeserving of his spot

Against Brighton he was actually one of Arsenal’s better players. He saw more of the ball than anyone else and used it well, providing an assist for Aubameyang.

Last season, the Swiss midfielder made a good start to life in England.

The only real concerns were about his disciplinary record, which is significantly better now. He hasn’t picked up a single suspension in the last year, not even for an accumulation of yellow cards.

The trouble is that his performances in general have dropped significantly.

Opposition players know how to stop him now, denying him the space and time to play his passing game.

They also seem to know how to force him into mistakes.

Perhaps he can perform against the likes of Brighton, but clearly not against a team like Manchester City.

At least not in the current system.

Yet Wenger plays him anyway, week in, week out, regardless of form or opposition.

So why is Wenger so keen to start him? Click next to find out

Why is Wenger so keen to keep starting him?

A large part of Wenger’s loyalty to the midfielder is thanks to Xhaka’s hard-working attitude.

In May of last year, the boss told Arsenal Player: “[Xhaka] turns up every day in training with full commitment. He has a very good focus, every single day. He never misses a training session and that’s certainly why he has improved throughout the season.”

Clearly, the 68-year-old values that work ethic highly.

The decision to keep playing Xhaka also has something to do with the fact Arsenal struggled to make chances last year without him. The team only won one of the last four league matches without him in the starting XI.

If you cast your minds back to November 2016, when Xhaka was last on the bench, for Arsenal’s trip to Manchester United, you might remember that the side Wenger put out that day didn’t manage a single shot on target until the 89th minute.

Fortunately, Olivier Giroud scored it and won the team a point.

The likes of Mohamed Elneny, Francis Coquelin (now at Valencia) and Jack Wilshere just don’t/didn’t make enough chances, and Arsenal have trouble creating already without removing more creativity from the side.

It’s easy enough to suggest dropping Xhaka, but hard to pick out someone else in the squad who really deserves his place.

His midfield rivals need to pick up their game and prove they’re worth selecting.

Hopefully then Wenger will finally think about rotating for the matches in which Xhaka is struggling.