rewrite this title Arteta must instantly drop 5/10 Arsenal star who was so “poor” v Brentford

The year of 2024 didn’t bring a Premier League title for Arsenal but they were the best team in the country over that calendar year. The data doesn’t lie.

So, what will 2025 bring? Prosperity? Calmness? Drama? A first Premier League title in over 20 years? Yes, it really has been that long now.

It won’t bring Bukayo Saka for a few months yet due to his hamstring problem but no Saka no problem for Arsenal, who have a 100% record since the Hale End talent was ruled out.

While they only secured a 1-0 win over Ipswich at home to see out 2024, they began the new year in fine fashion by securing a 3-1 victory. It wasn’t without a scare, however.

Despite Brentford barely having a kick in the opening 13 minutes of the clash, it was the Bees who took the lead through the effervescent Bryan Mbeumo.

Arsenal now haven’t kept a league clean sheet on the road in eight attempts but they rallied to narrow the gap between themselves and Liverpool at the top of the table to six points.

Gabriel Jesus hit back in the opening half before second-half strikes from Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli secured the points.

Arsenal’s best players against Brentford

With Kai Havertz missing through illness on Wednesday evening, it made for an interesting Arsenal lineup that was selected by boss Mikel Arteta.

Jesus starred leading the line again, heading home from close range to score his sixth goal in his last four matches in all competitions.

That said, it wasn’t the goalscorers who caught the eye the most in west London. It was a certain Ethan Nwaneri who was handed his first Premier League start at the ground where it all began for him as a 15-year-old.

The Gtech was where he became the youngest Premier League player of all time and he starred once more at the same stadium.

Usually utilised as an attacking midfielder by Arteta, it was on the right-hand side of the attack where Nwaneri shone on this occasion.

He immediately looked at home and already looks like the closest thing Arsenal have to Saka while he remains out.

Naturally left-footed, Nwaneri drifted inside and used his quick feet to dazzle the Brentford defence on multiple occasions. There wasn’t a goal contribution to show for his efforts but as Football.London’s Tom Canton said in his post-match player ratings, he was ‘such a bright spark in the side’.

Arteta has sometimes been accused of not trusting the stars of tomorrow but in Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, he has shown great faith.

Speaking of which, both need to start after one player’s performance on the away team this evening…

Riccardo Calafiori’s performance in numbers

The emergence of Lewis-Skelly as a left-back in recent weeks has been very impressive. An 18-year-old, he’s played in a Jurrien Timber-like fashion, able to invert into midfield, contribute in the final third and add security in possession. The very fact he averages a 97% pass completion rate in the league this term is evidence of that.

So, he surely has to start, right? Well, after the performance of Riccardo Calafiori on Wednesday you can certainly argue that case.

The Italian has caught the eye in spurts since signing over the summer from Bologna, notably scoring that brilliant goal against Manchester City a few months ago.

However, he does have a moment of insecurity in him and he was arguably at fault for the opener that Mbeumo scored.

Everyone knows what the winger wants to do – cut inside on his left foot – and Calafiori duly let him do that. All too easily as well. In the words of one Arsenal content creator, it was a ‘poor’ moment and it duly earned him a 5/10 player rating from the aforementioned Canton who noted that ‘some poor passes showed that this was indeed a player fresh off from an injury’.

So, it’s difficult to judge too harshly but the fact he gave away possession 13x, the most of any Arsenal player besides Jesus, was far from positive. It was unsurprising, therefore, to see him end the game with a pass accuracy of 77%, a far cry from Lewis-Skelly’s average this term.

Calafiori will undoubtedly improve the more he settles into this Arsenal team but he is being overshadowed by a raw teenage prospect at the moment.

His time will come but for now, Arteta needs to hand the left-back spot to Lewis-Skelly on a regular basis.