Mohamed Elneny makes his first appearance with #Arsenal!
Arsenal has won just once in their last seven trips to the Britannia, including a 3-2 loss last season. It’s a trend Arsenal would like to buck, especially since Wenger’s men are currently one point behind Leicester for the table lead.
While not in the title race, Stoke have been on their own strong run of form. The Potters have won three of their last four fixtures, and another victory would put them just one spot outside European qualification.
Xherdan Shaqiri and Geoff Cameron are both unavailable for Stoke today, but Marko Arnautovic should return to the lineup. For Arsenal, Alexis Sanchez will most likely be unavailable again, but it’s possible Egyptian Mohamed Elneny makes his first appearance with the club.
This fixture the best way to introduce 23-year-old Mohamed Elneny to English football after his £10million transfer from Basel, or is it better to spare the Egyptian and ease him in more gently?
Wenger paused for a moment before recalling how he introduced Robert Pires – and how that can offer a third way.
“You have two ways to approach it: throw him straight into the bath and say, ‘Okay, let’s show that you can swim’, or say ‘Look, sit next to me and get a little taste of what it is to play here. Like I did with Pires. After half an hour, Robert said to me, ‘is it always like that?’”
From what everyone who knows Elneny says about him, he is always ready, and would not be cowed by such a match. The Egypt midfielder may have admitted that he has felt “fear” before debuts before, but he has never shown it.
He may actually be what Arsenal need in such a game, and what they need in the team as a whole right now. On Tuesday night at Liverpool, after a run of games in which Arsenal’s midfield had played well without Santi Cazorla, Wenger’s side seemed to struggle without that composure in midfield. The frequent loss of possession probably played a big part in Joe Allen hitting a late equaliser.
Elneny’s old club faced a similar challenge against the same club in last season’s Champions League, as Basel led Liverpool 1-0. The midfielder was brilliant, calming the game down with his assured use of possession, and helping the Swiss side see out a fine win. In the Europa League this season, no player other than Napoli’s Mirko Valdifiori has hit more passes per game.
Elneny is a young player who shows unusual maturity with the ball. He earned the first of 39 caps for Egypt at the age of just 19 and his international manager from 2011 to 2013, Bob Bradley, praises his composure.
Today’s match will be broadcast on USA Network, starting at 10:00 a.m. Eastern
