- 23 hours ago
Brilliant Saka leading Arsenal’s title charge - and there’s MUCH more to come
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 17 Feb 2024 17:57 GMT
- 3 min read
Bukayo Saka emerged battered and bruised from Arsenal’s crushing 5-0 win over Burnley, but the winger once again turned in an impressive display for the Gunners.
Saka provided two goals for Mikel Arteta’s men as they shut the gap on Liverpool at the top of the table to two points after the Reds had won handsomely at Brentford earlier in the day.
It speaks volumes of the player that the winger has become that this is supposedly a bad season for him.
Saka is now up to 12 Premier League goals and eight assists in 24 matches this term. He is only two goals and three assists short of the numbers he put up last season, when he was hailed as a dynamo of Arsenal’s unexpected title push.
And perhaps that’s the most exciting thing about Saka right now: he’s not at his very best, but he’s still being decisive.
Saka up to 12 goals and 8 assists in what critics are calling a "bad season" for him.
In Rashford's supposedly brilliant 2022/23 campaign, he got 17 goals and 5 assists.
Saka still has 13 games to play. Levels. pic.twitter.com/W1EVWWUw8M— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) February 17, 2024
Saka vs Burnley stats
FootballCritic gave Saka a score of 7.9 out of 10, which was only the fourth best among Mikel Arteta’s troops. Gabriel, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz all rated better than the Hale End kid, who made his exit with 20 minutes still remaining, his job having been done to a more than satisfactory level.
He was ever available to his teammates, with only Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice posting more touches per minute among the starting midfielders and forwards.
Saka, meanwhile, used the ball relatively well. His pass competition was above that of Havertz and Leandro Trossard, while only Odegaard completed more passes in the final third.
What made this all the more impressive was that he did this in the face of much physical treatment from the Burnley defence.
It was a measure of his frustration that he was booked for kicking the ball away after a soft foul, the incident that likely sealed Arteta’s decision to replace him.
It is also a measure of respect from Arteta that he took off Saka. The Spaniard is aware of his importance. With six goals in his last four games, the winger is spearheading Arsenal’s title challenge – and there’s still much more to come from him.
