Saka Impressive, Nketiah Flops: Arsenal Player Ratings From Their Win Over Sheffield United

Arsenal secured all three points from their latest Premier League fixture as they managed to ink a 2-1 win over Sheffield United at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.

The Gunners secured a two-goal cushion, thanks to a goal each by Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pepe while David McGoldrick’s goal eventually proved to be just a consolation for Sheffield United.

Here are our Arsenal player ratings from what transpired between Mikel Arteta and Chris Wilder’s men.

Bernd Leno 6/10

The custodian had very little to do as he was hardly tested by the Blades and there was nothing he could have done to stop McGoldrick’s thunderous strike.

Hector Bellerin 7/10

Although he lacked pace and intent while going forward in the first half, he was incredibly lively after the break and bagged two assists.

David Luiz 6/10

It was a shaky start from him and was lucky not to concede a foul after pulling Oliver Burke’s shirt. Luiz was far from being composed and never really settled.

Gabriel Magalhaes 8/10

Arsenal’s summer signing was rock-solid at the back and he ended up winning 6 aerial duels and making 1 tackle. Calm and up to the challenges, it was certainly an assuring performance from him.

Kieran Tierney 7/10

Apart from being slow in closing down McGoldrick to prevent him from scoring, Tierney did nothing wrong and was once again a key player for the home side in initiating attacking endeavours down the left.

Mohamed Elneny 6/10

The Egyptian international was bereft of spark but did recycle possession with precision, carving a pass success rate of 90%, although most of his passes were sideways.

Dani Ceballos 7/10

Ceballos gave his all as usual and was the centre of most of his clan’s attacks. He completed 3 dribbles and completed 81 passes, including 2 key passes.

Bukayo Saka 8/10

On the back of his England national side call-up, the young gun had a rather quiet first period but came out all guns blazing in the second half. He drifted inside to create chances on a number of occasions and coolly headed the ball past Aaron Ramsdale to grab a goal.

Willian 6/10

The former Chelsea winger was uncharismatic down the right and hardly created anything fruitful during his outing.

Eddie Nketiah 5/10

Being picked over Alexandre Lacazette, Nketiah was helplessly inconsistent in the final third and was kept at bay by John Egan, Chris Basham and Jack Robinson.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 6/10

The skipper was isolated at times and could not really weave his magic, although he dictated the play from the deeper positions at times.

Substitutions

Nicolas Pepe 7/10

Pepe involved himself in the opening goal and then went on to score himself with a fine solo effort.

Granit Xhaka 6/10

He replaced Ceballos late in the game and brought energy into Arsenal’s midfield unit.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles NA

Statistics Credits: WhoScored