It is a measure of how far Rob Holding has come in a very short amount of time that his absence from the matchday squad against Leicester City was a big surprise.
The 21-year-old was rested after two big games - and two big personal performances from the defender - against Middlesbrough and Manchester City.
Wenger has been impressed with Holding since his arrival from Bolton Wanderers last summer, and believes he has all the ingredients to become a top-class centre back.
“When we were in the situation where we decided to play him, you must have confidence in him,” the Arsenal manager said.
“I believe he has a great future because he’s very intelligent and has a very objective analysis of his own performance.
“The biggest part in the improvement of a player is to be capable of analysing his performance in a very objective way, [be] a little bit harsh, and I think he has that in him.
“He’s very bright about what’s happening and he analyses very well and understands very well. He reads the game very well.”
Wenger has not decided whether to adopt a back three for the fourth successive game in the north London derby, but says it is still too soon to judge its success.
“It will be a good test on Sunday, even if I have not decided yet exactly in what kind of shape we will start the game,” he said. “It’s a bit early to come to any conclusion, because we’ve only played that system for three games.”
More polls to come later in the season!
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