Winners
Martin Odegaard
A captain’s performance and some. The Norwegian once again proved that whilst his compatriot Erling Haaland is banging in the goals regularly and breaking records, he is matching him in terms of importance to his team.
A goal and what might be the assist of the season, feeding Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal’s fourth and ultimately the winning strike, brought the club captain centre stage for his display. Beyond just the goal contributions though, some of his footwork and short play was just sublime.
Eddie Nketiah
There were so many questions facing Eddie Nketiah after the injury to Gabriel Jesus. Even Mikel Arteta was talking about potential alternatives such as Martinelli in his press conferences.
READ MORE: Brighton vs Arsenal highlights: Gunners front four score as transfer target Mudryk watches on
However, after two goals in two games, the No. 14 has done everything he can to assure supporters he can do the job in this period and, who knows, maybe beyond? Outside of the goal, he was sharp on the ball, dropped in to link play and tried to be a nuisance on every last defender, drifting wide and running through centrally.
The tests against some of the league’s best will follow this January. If Nketiah can score more next month it will be time to start holding hands up and solely questioning what all the worry was about.
Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko
It was hardly a surprise to see Mikel Arteta bring back his favourite full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko into the team but perhaps such a seamless reintegration into the matchday squad with as impressive a showing as he mustered was somewhat an eyebrow-raiser. The Ukrainian in particular was dancing with the ball on the left flank and Gabriel Martinelli benefitted hugely from his support.
Ben White on the opposite flank, meanwhile, was completely rock-solid in keeping Kauro Mitoma at bay as much as he could. The passing through to Bukayo Saka also significantly stood out and the winger flourished with his countryman’s support.
Losers
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney
Naturally, following the displays of White and Zinchenko, the game changed dramatically when both Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu came on. Suddenly the Gunners looked far more vulnerable on the counter and the wide areas lacked the solidity they had moments earlier.
Tomiyasu in particular struggled with the overloads from Mitoma and Pervis Estupinan. Were it not for a very fine offside call it could have been very different in the final minutes and this change would have been brought far more into focus.
William Saliba
William Saliba showed his composure, control and confidence in the first half like we always know he can. However, in the second half, this seemed to abandon him somewhat.
Evan Ferguson beating the Frenchman and then outmuscling the defender to score Brighton’s second left me and many others looking around questioning whether that had indeed just happened. The sharpness had gone, and Saliba was relieved when Rob Holding came on at the end to help hold the fort; a half to remember and move on from quickly.
Mykhaylo Mudryk
Watching somewhere outside of the UK was Arsenal transfer target Mykhaylo Mudryk. Posting for the second time in successive games, Mudryk showed he was watching the Arsenal match and captioned a clip of both Roberto De Zerbi and Mikel Arteta with “2 top coach”.
However, if I were a prospective talent watching a player in your potential future position like Gabriel Martinelli put on the display he did, I would be questioning how on Earth I am going to ever get past him. That said, Arsenal need competitive options in all areas and the Ukrainian wonderkid certainly provides that.
The challenge remains regarding whether Arsenal can get the deal done. They’ll hope to end up in the winners' section in this regard.
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