Arsenal's Mertesacker relishing Koscielny partnership

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker was in disbelief as he was told of the unbeaten streak he and Laurent Koscielny have helped create.

Arsene Wenger's side has not lost a Premier League match since January 2012 when the players have both finished the game, with the defensive duo notching up 23 wins in 32 outings in that time.

"[The statistic] sounds not real to me," Mertesacker told the club's official website. "When I first heard it, it sounded very weird. It's a good statistic but we have to build on that. I think we have shown a lot of people who criticized us a lot over the last two and a half years that we know each other much better now.

"We complement each other well, so it looks like that's a good partnership. I've played with many good center backs with different qualities. But Laurent, he's one of the quickest players I've ever played with, one of the most mobile players, and he anticipates well a lot of balls so he has real strengths to be a good partner. For me it's easy to play alongside him. We both take advantages from each other so that is the main key I think."