It may still be early in the season, but things look scary for Arsenal at the moment.
Mikel Arteta’s side are top of the Premier League and remain unbeaten in the Champions League with three wins from three games.
Not every win is highlighted, but Tuesday night’s demolition of Atletico Madrid was certainly an anomaly for the Gunners in human terms.
Additionally, Bukayo Saka is once again a major threat, although he didn’t score, and in a further encouraging sign, another starter is starting to show signs of being a talisman in his game.
Saka season begins
Last season was a strange one for Saka and for Arsenal as a whole. Although he missed nearly four months of soccer due to a hamstring injury and subsequent surgery, he still managed to score 12 goals and provide 14 assists in 37 games due to the Hale End phenomenon.
From 24/25 | |
|---|---|
Appearance | 37 |
minutes | 2619′ |
the goal | 12 |
assist | 14 |
Number of goals involved per match | 0.70 |
Hours per goal involvement | 100.73′ |
All stats via Transfermarkt | |
It was also clear late in the campaign that he still lacked the game aptitude and sharpness that made him a world-class talent.
Fortunately, although that was still lacking at the start of the season, he managed to make his mark with a stunning goal in the second match at home against Leeds United.
But as if the bad luck of the past year wasn’t enough to deal with, he suffered another hamstring injury in that game.
As a result, he was sidelined for a further few weeks, only returning in the second half of last month’s game against Manchester City.
This setback has no doubt made him a bit rusty in recent weeks, but his immense talent still means he remains the most dangerous attacker in Arteta’s team.
What’s more, he has started to look close to his best again over the past week or so, and although he didn’t score or assist against Fulham on Saturday, the difference was clear as he had an expected assist rate of 0.55, made seven important passes and was a huge threat.
And while he wasn’t as impactful on Tuesday, it looked like the most realistic route to goal for the Gunners for the majority of their first 45 games. Paul Merson, a former professional turned pundit, claimed that the goal made the Spanish team “toast”.
All in all, despite not being in top form yet, Saka is arguably Arsenal’s most important player and talisman, so it’s pretty exciting to see another player start to show his shades in his play.
Arsenal star imitating Saka
When it comes to Arsenal’s standout players on Tuesday, you actually get to choose.
Declan Rice scored again, Victor Goqueres scored twice and Gabriel Magalhães did his best.
However, the starter who once again showed his Saka qualities in the game was Miles Lewis-Skelly.
The young Englishman was handed his third start of the season and has more than returned the favor to Arteta, but where are the shadows of his fellow Hale Ender showing in his game?
Well, perhaps the most important thing is his ability to draw opposing players towards him and easily pass them, creating promising attacking situations for his team.
This is exactly what he did for his second goal of the night. His incredible run from the center of the park saw him send off five players and then set up Gabriel Martinelli.
But there’s a lot more to the similarities between these two academy treasures than that.
For example, neither would be described as towering or particularly impressive, but both are fighters, much stronger than they appear, and both can be a bit mean in the most complementary ways.
Furthermore, the 19-year-old is technically excellent, with precise control and a cane in his left foot, and has registered several assists since his debut.
With all this in mind, it’s not hard to see why one analyst on Tuesday night described the youngster as one of the best talents “in world football.”
After all, Lewis Skelly still has a way to go before he reaches his prime, but as it stands, he’s already a tremendous talent and shares many traits with Saka.