Granted Saturday afternoon’s victory against Sheffield United came against a side with just one point after 10 games, but Arsenal’s supporting cast enjoying their moment in the sun is testament to their steady growth this season.
Arsenal’s Player Highlights Against Sheffield
Jakub Kiwior
Although it would be easy to start with Eddie Nketiah’s glittering performance, we prefer to begin our analysis with a display that perhaps flew under the radar slightly.
Minutes will come few and far between for January addition Jakub Kiwior, but every time the Pole pulls on the shirt for Arsenal, he appears more complete than the game before.
Operating on the left side of the defence in place of Gabriel, he excelled with progressive passes out from the back, completing just under 90% of his attempts and making 84 overall.
Kiwior on the ball is ridiculously good.
— Sash ~ (@ltarsenal) October 28, 2023
Although Gabriel has been a standout performer for Mikel Arteta over the past two seasons, Kiwior alongside William Saliba was like watching a sleight of hand segment from Ocean’s Eleven – blink, and you’ll miss a body feint, or perhaps a defence splitting pass into the wide men.
His understanding with Gabriel Martinelli was particularly effective on Saturday, allowing Oleksandr Zinchenko the license to vacate his spot at left-back and drift into pockets of space in midfield.
Operating with suave sophistication and total assurance, Kiwior’s performance should inspire a bucket load of confidence further down the line, when the packed schedule will force Arteta into heavy squad rotation.
SportsLens Rating: 8.5/10
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko are being forced to play at the very top of their game at the moment.
Takehiro Tomiyasu’s recent performances almost certainly warrant a starting berth, and his man of the match display in the Champions League against Sevilla was perhaps his crowning moment in an Arsenal shirt so far.
Utterly dominant in the air, he is just as competent with the ball at his feet and has adapted to Arteta’s inverted full-back demands with relative ease.
Although he featured for less than half an hour against Sheffield, the Japanese international was seen popping up in all sorts of areas, with fans even joking that he is their new ‘inverted centre-forward.’
Whether this role is real or not is a question only Arteta can answer, but it did result in Tomiyasu grabbing his first goal for the club on his 50th appearance.
SportsLens Rating: 8/10
Eddie Nketiah
Not long after a mesmeric display in southern Spain, Arsenal fans were left to stew on another bitter injury update for Gabriel Jesus, who is expected to miss the next few weeks with a muscle injury.
Gunners fans had little time to ponder when, or if, Jesus will ever get a sustained run in the team without injury before Eddie Nketiah quickly squashed any qualms over Arsenal’s source of goals for the upcoming games.
An expertly taken first, an opportunistic second and an impeccable third from range capped off a near-perfect hat-trick for Nketiah – his first for the club – before he donned the captain’s armband in the latter stages of the afternoon.
And when Bukayo Saka was substituted in the 73rd minute, Nketiah was handed the captain’s armband
“A special moment for me being a childhood fan. Bukayo was first-time captain as well. We came from Hale End, we know what it means to the club” pic.twitter.com/CmpPWr5H67
— Premier League (@premierleague) October 28, 2023
Bukayo Saka bestowing the privilege on a fellow Hale End graduate was a telling sign, and example to those coming through the ranks that there is a route into the first team, no matter the level Arsenal are currently playing at.
Nketiah is often criticised for his failure to put away the simplest of chances, but the ruthlessness and self-confidence he displayed on Saturday shows he has the necessary skillset to succeed.
SportsLens Rating: 9/10
Honourable Mentions
Emile Smith-Rowe‘s first Premier League start since May 2022 was a commendable cameo in place of captain Martin Odegaard, who was revealed to have been suffering from an injury these past several weeks.
He was instrumental in bringing the front line into the game and showed flashes of his former brilliance, with slaloming dribbles and incisive passes. His confidence will grow stronger as he gains more minutes, but operating in an unfamiliar role on the left hand side of centre midfield, he more than held his own.
SportsLens Rating: 7/10
Fabio Vieira also came on with quarter of an hour to play, and played a starring role in Arsenal’s fourth after winning a penalty and converting it with a nonchalant finish down the middle of the goal.
Although his minutes have suffered in recent weeks, it is easy to forget the new-found gusto he displayed in the very early stages of this season. With Odegaard showing signs of fatigue in recent performances, there will come a time when Vieira will take centre stage as the calendar intensifies.
SportsLens Rating: 7/10
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