Midfield ought to have been the easy bit for Arsenal. Although their defence and their attack are both beset with problems, midfield is traditionally where the Gunners are strongest. However, a couple of painfully predictable injuries have left Arsene Wenger facing problems in the middle of the park already.
Since the opening weekend defeat to Liverpool, Arsenal's midfield has largely escaped analysis. That's presumably because the positions at the two extremes of the pitch are in such dire straits. Wenger is desperately short of centre-halves. Against Liverpool, he was forced to field the inexperienced pair of Rob Holding and Calum Chambers. At the other end, he used Alexis Sanchez as a lone striker. It's an experiment he's tried several times with very little success. Alexis has many of the attributes required of a centre-forward, but seems to lack the tactical discipline to flourish in the role.
Midfield might have been where Wenger hoped to win the game against Liverpool. He certainly had plenty of options. Arsenal began the season able to choose from Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny, Santi Cazorla, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alex Iwobi. There can't be many squads blessed with more variety and quality. Despite losing the trio of Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky this summer, Arsenal still have tremendous depth in this area.
The problem is not one of numbers, it's about finding balance. In some respects, Wenger's starting XI for the opening game came as something of a surprise. He started with Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny at the base of the midfield, with Aaron Ramsey in the No. 10 role.
While Elneny was a very influential player during the run-in to Arsenal's 2015-16 campaign, Coquelin appeared to have lost his way. It was a little strange to see the Frenchman start ahead of summer signing Granit Xhaka.
Arsenal's problem last season was that, for all the talented individuals in their squad (injuries permitting), they could not strike an effective midfield balance. The signing of Xhaka was seemingly done to help restore some order to the middle of the park. He's both distributor and destroyer, and thus a natural partner for a player like Ramsey. Wenger had the opportunity to field those players together and start building that understanding against Liverpool. Instead, he went for Coquelin and Elneny, and Arsenal lost the midfield battle.
He now won't be able to play Ramsey and Xhaka together for some time. The Welshman suffered a muscular injury on his first appearance of the season and could be out for several weeks.
The situation is not helped by the fact that Iwobi also picked up an injury. Although Iwobi played from the left flank, he forms part of Arsenal's intricate midfield play. Like Elneny, he made himself invaluable to the side last season. Both he and the Egyptian have been crucial in helping Arsenal find balance. They're constantly moving into space and thus available to receive the ball.
A midfield featuring Xhaka, Ramsey and Iwobi ought to have been formidable. It looked as if that would be the foundation on which the early part of Arsenal's season would be built. Now those plans are in shreds.
The one piece of comfort could come in the form of Mesut Ozil's return. The German rejoined training last week and could be in the squad to face Leicester City this weekend. Certainly the absence of Ramsey and Iwobi could force Wenger to accelerate his plans to restore the World Cup-winner to the side.
The Arsenal boss should also consider throwing Xhaka into the fray. Wenger is often cautious with players who've arrived from foreign shores, but Xhaka has come from the Bundesliga, which is not dramatically different in pace to the Premier League. What's more, it's not as if he's apprehensive about the physical side of the game. Within moments of coming on in his debut against Liverpool, he was throwing himself wholeheartedly into challenges.
Wenger must work fast to sort out his midfield. It's the one area of the field where signings are not needed. Even with these new injuries, Arsenal have plenty of midfield players at their disposal. Wenger's challenge is to solve the puzzle by finding the right combination of talent.