Five different Arsenal players made it into various Teams of the Week after their 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the weekend.
It really was a team effort from Arsenal to overcome their big-six rival at the weekend, so it’s no surprise to see so many players getting credit for the win. Let’s have a look at each team of the week and what the writers said about the performances.
WhoScored
Here’s WhoScored‘s team, based on statistical analysis of each player’s performance:
As you can see, Bernd Leno and Granit Xhaka made it into the team from Unai Emery’s side. WhoScored wrote in their player ratings:
“[Leno] made important stops from Lukaku in particular and, unlike his opposite number, didn’t put a foot wrong…[Xhaka] scored the decisive opener with a well-hit swerving effort from range and covered ground superbly, while creating two chances and making two interceptions.”
BBC
Next up, let’s have a look at which Arsenal stars Garth Crooks of the BBC included in his team:
Crooks included two different players to WhoScored, leaving out Xhaka and Leno but giving praise to Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
He wrote of Sokratis: “A clean sheet against a Manchester United who were rampant in midweek against Paris St-Germain is impressive. I have given Arsenal’s defence plenty of stick this season but their performance as a unit against United was first class. In appalling conditions, I thought Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny were magnificent.”
Then, on Maitland-Niles: “I’ve seen Ainsley Maitland-Niles play in big games before and struggle but not on this occasion. His performance against a leggy Manchester United showed signs of a player maturing nicely.
“He looked solid in defence and always very composed on the ball. I get the feeling that Unai Emery may have put the reins on this lad and possibly the blinkers too.”
Daily Mail
Finally, Jamie Redknapp of the Daily Mail agreed with WhoScored on their choice of goalkeeper, whilst including a fifth Arsenal star mentioned by neither of the other two:
Redknapp didn’t give any further breakdown of his choices, but it’s not hard to see why Leno made the team after all his crucial saves. Clearly, the former Tottenham player was also impressed with Sead Kolasinac’s hard work and powerful runs forward on the left-hand side.
Let’s hope for more Arsenal players in these sides in the final weeks of the season.
