Saturday 4 February 2017 08:31, UK
Shkodran Mustafi’s unbeaten start to life at Arsenal came to end with Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Watford. Can he bounce back against Chelsea on Saturday? It’s a test many of his predecessors have failed…
A trip to Stamford Bridge can be a bruising experience for an Arsenal centre-back. Just ask Philippe Senderos. The Switzerland international came off second best against Didier Drogba on a string of occasions during Jose Mourinho's early years in the Premier League, and he was not the only one to suffer against the Ivorian.
From Kolo Toure to Laurent Koscielny, Drogba dominated just about every Arsenal defender he came up against. He left Chelsea in 2012 having scored 13 goals in 14 appearances against Arsene Wenger's side, six of which came in six games at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal were grateful to see the back of Drogba, but these days Diego Costa has taken on the mantle of their tormentor-in-chief. The Spain international has scored twice against the Gunners since joining Chelsea in 2014, and last year he enraged Wenger when he played an instrumental role in getting Gabriel Paulista and Per Mertesacker sent off.
Encounters such as those convinced Wenger to add Valencia's Shkodran Mustafi to his central defence for £35m at the end of August. But while the Germany international successfully shackled Costa in Arsenal's 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium in September, the return game is a far tougher proposition - especially after he endured a difficult evening in Tuesday's shock defeat to Watford.
Arsenal have only won two of their last 15 games at Stamford Bridge, and Antonio Conte's side are a different beast to when the two sides met in the autumn. Costa has led a relentless charge towards the title since that day at the Emirates, and while a training ground row with Conte briefly threatened to derail his season, he is already back on track.
Costa's return to form puts added pressure on the new man in Arsenal's backline. Mustafi came under scrutiny after his 22-game unbeaten run was ended by Watford, but he has already established himself as Wenger's first-choice partner for Koscielny, and his impact has attracted praise from his his team-mates.
"He has been a great addition to the team," said Hector Bellerin in January. "Defensively he has grown since the first day. He is really confident around the other players, he will tell you what to do, and he is a World Cup winner as well as a leader. The stats show he is a very positive defender and he is helping us get clean sheets."
Unlike Mertesacker, who lacks the mobility to take too many risks, Mustafi is a proactive defender who likes to play on the front foot. His style is similar to Koscielny's, with the stats showing that they are one of only two sets of defensive partners who both rank among the top 10 centre-backs for interceptions in the Premier League.
The aggressive approach allows Arsenal to hold a high line and press their opponents in a way they haven't been able to do in previous years. The system did not succeed against Watford, with Mustafi partly at fault for both goals, but the 3-0 win over Chelsea in September showed it at its best. With Mustafi and Koscielny snapping at Costa's heels every time the ball came near him, Wenger's side were able to keep the Blues pegged back.
It's not just defensively where Mustafi has made a difference. The 24-year-old is a forward-thinking passer who distributes the ball intelligently from the back. In the absence of the injured Santi Cazorla, those threaded passes to Arsenal's forwards have provided an invaluable supply line.
The stats show only Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka have attempted more passes into the final third than Mustafi, who has made nearly twice as many as Koscielny despite playing fewer games. In Arsenal's 5-1 thrashing of West Ham in December, Mustafi even claimed an assist with a typically incisive pass into the feet of Alexis Sanchez.
He has averaged nine passes into the final third per 90 minutes this season, putting him well clear of any other Arsenal defender either this season or last. His adventurous passing means his success rate is lower than Koscielny's (83.4 per cent to 87.8 per cent), but with Mustafi in their central defence, the Gunners are geared to attack from back to front.
"He likes to come out and look for people up front," added Bellerin. "He doesn't kick long ball balls, he looks to play the ball on the floor and that's really important to the way we play."
The stats show Arsenal lose more games and concede more frequently without Mustafi in the starting line-up, and it's no coincidence that they score fewer goals too. From 2.7 per game with him to 1.9 without him, the drop-off is significant. Mustafi's penetrative passing makes him as important with the ball as he is without it.
All that is not to say the Watford game was the only hiccup. Mustafi struggled badly on his Champions League debut against Paris Saint-Germain in September, losing Edinson Cavani for the early opener at the Parc des Princes, and there was also a costly lapse of concentration against Sunderland in October, when his error allowed Duncan Watmore to run on to a long ball and win a penalty.
The overall impression, though, has been positive. "We have some history of centre-backs coming over from the Spanish league and not being completely successful," said Wenger recently. "There's always a little bit of uncertainty, but he convinced everybody very quickly that he can cope with that. I'm pleased with the way he has adapted to life here."
Mustafi is already important to Arsenal, but Saturday's trip to Stamford Bridge is his toughest test yet. If it is to mark the start of another unbeaten run, he'll need to succeed where others have failed.
