Arsenal could yet finish top of one Premier League table this season. On Saturday, in a 4-0 home win over Watford, Mohamed Elneny completed more passes in one match than any other player in England’s top flight in 2015-16.

Elneny found a team-mate on a Xavi-esque 122 occasions at Emirates Stadium, beating Fernandinho’s mark of 120 set for Manchester City against Norwich in October.

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It is an eye-catching statistic which strongly suggests the January signing has found his place in Arsenal’s midfield and is now entirely comfortable with his surroundings and duties. With Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky all spending prolonged spells with the physio, Elneny has become a very necessary steadying influence in the centre of the field.

But there were two other passes on Saturday, not counted amongst Elneny’s bulging collection, which supplied evidence of a secondary impact that the Egyptian, signed for only £7.4 million from Basel, has had on Arsenal.

Francis Coquelin hasn’t scored a single goal or assisted a team-mate in 25 appearances for Arsenal this season. You wouldn’t really expect him to: the Frenchman’s role is primarily a destructive one. A fortnight before Elneny’s passing masterclass, Coquelin equalled an all-time Premier League record with 13 interceptions in the win over Everton. He is incredibly adept at winning the ball back in the depths of midfield; that is his USP.

Watford's Yugoslavian-born Swiss midfielder Almen Abdi (L) vies with Arsenal's French midfielder Francis Coquelin Image credit: AFP

However, against Watford, Coquelin’s presence was also felt further up the field as he played a prominent role in both of the opening two goals. It was Coquelin’s header after four minutes which found Alex Iwobi, who picked out Alexis Sanchez for the opener with a gorgeous cross. Then, on 38 minutes, it was his pass which set Sanchez free to cut the ball back for Iwobi to score.

Pre-assists are not a construct unique to Arsenal - Opta recognises them, albeit as ‘second assists’, so they are an established part of the football canon - but there is admittedly something distinctly Arsenaly about the whole concept.

It is hard to conceive of another group of supporters who could peruse YouTube and enjoy a video like one from 2013 entitled: 'All of Tomas Rosicky’s pre-assists for Arsenal’. In the same year, Opta revealed that Jack Wilshere was the most prolific practitioner of the art in the Premier League.

But the true king of the pre-assist was a man identified by Arsene Wenger in an interview with the club’s official website back in December. “If we go back a few years we have the example of Alex Hleb, who used to give ‘pre-assists’,” said Wenger. “Something that’s now recognised by Opta as the ball before the assist. Alex Hleb had that quality.”

It is an unlikely comparison, but in this singular sense at least, there was a Hlebian aspect to Coquelin’s performance on Saturday. And it is no accident. Glowing at the growing partnership between his two central midfielders, Wenger explained the effect Elneny has had on Coquelin.

“Both of them are improving offensively,” said Wenger. “When Coquelin plays with Cazorla, Coquelin is the defensive player which made them a perfect pair. Then Coquelin focused more on defending and Cazorla more on attacking. Now both [Elneny and Coquelin] share the job, so the balance is a bit [better]. They’re more similar.”

Alex Iwobi celebrates scoring the second goal for Arsenal with Hector Bellerin and Mohamed Elneny Image credit: Reuters

Arsenal’s attempts to fashion a balanced midfield since Cazorla was lost to injury in November have been largely unsuccessful. The main problem was trying to shoehorn in Ramsey alongside first Mathieu Flamini and then Coquelin, with disappointing results. Ramsey has immense talent but the dynamic of the two partnerships weren’t right.

The early signs for Arsenal’s latest midfield portmanteau are rather more encouraging. Coquelin and Elneny can both put a foot in and can both pass the ball a bit. Coquelin’s quality in this regard is often overlooked as he moves the ball cleanly over short or long distances, even if his passing is far from faultless. Elneny is more progressive, and looked to enjoy exchanging passes with Sanchez at a rapid rate against Watford, but on Saturday he compiled two tackles and two interceptions to help Coquelin out. He likes to drop back as much as venture forward.

“He has brought something to the team,” says Wenger. “He is a very intelligent player who is also very mobile and works very hard for the team. He gives us tactical stability. He made a very good pair with Coquelin in terms of winning the ball back, and also in the distribution as well.”

Arsenal have discovered some balance in a key area where previously they had instability and flux. They would do well to maintain the experiment – at least until Cazorla’s return.

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