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By Sam McGuire
Yes, Arsenal fans are giving the No. 7 the plaudits he deserves but in the eyes of practically everybody else, Saka is firmly in Cole Palmer’s shadow. The Chelsea forward has started the season as he finished his debut campaign with the Blues, scoring goals and chipping in with assists.
The former Manchester City youngster leads the way for goals and assists in the English top-flight this term with 11 having struck six goals and assisted on five occasions for Enzo Maresca’s side.
Ahead of the international break, a lot of people seemed to want Palmer to displace Saka on the England right. And while Palmer is in fantastic form, it does need to be caveated. For example, the Chelsea No. 20 is given freedom. He operates as an attacking midfielder and can drop back to pick up possession or join Nicolas Jackson in attack. Saka, by comparison, has a specific role for Arsenal. And he’s executing it almost perfectly.
If you want a right-sided inside forward for England, it has to be Saka. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that he’s the most in-form right-sided attacker in the Premier League this season.
The versatile 23-year-old leads the way for assists in the English top-flight with seven. He’s well on course to shatter his career-best return of 11 in the Premier League and he’s just two off his haul for the 2023/24 campaign. And we’re just seven games into the current season.
Saka leads the way for Big Chances Created (12) and he’s the only player to be in double figures for this metric. He’s ranked first for Chances Created (27) and has the highest Expected Assists total of anyone in the Premier League with 3.2 . His Expected Assists per 90 average of 0.5 can only be bettered by Kevin de Bruyne (0.55) but the Arsenal man has a larger sample size so it makes his return even more impressive.
Only Cole Palmer has a higher FotMob rating than the Arsenal forward (8.23). Yes, Saka, despite netting just twice in the Premier League, has a higher FotMob rating than 10-goal Erling Haaland. That puts into perspective just how impactful he’s been this term.
For a little more context into just how outrageous his start to the season has been, Saka finished last season having created 15 Big Chances in the Premier League and 91 Chances in total with an Expected Assists per 90 average of 0.34.
At the current rate of output, the 43-cap England international is on course to finish with 65 Big Chances Created to his name and 146 chances created. Obviously, he isn’t going to get close to that sort of output, that would be obscene, but it does highlight just how well he’s started this campaign.
And he’s doing this while averaging fewer touches (60 compared to the 65 last term), in a slightly different role – he’s now the creator rather than the dual-threat he once was. He’s also facing teams who are sitting deeper out of respect for the danger Arsenal pose.
As alluded to by Mikel Arteta recently, there’s a maturity to Saka’s game this season. He’s taken on the responsibility of being the man, perhaps in the absence of skipper Martin Ødegaard. Whatever the reason for it, he’s delivering for the Gunners.
The Arsenal boss heaped praise on Saka after his performance in the 3-1 win over Southampton. The No. 7 claimed a goal and two assists as the title hopefuls came from behind to claim all three points.
“That’s the maturity and that’s the steps that players have to do. He has been long enough in the team now, he has the right to have that role. He believes in that, that he has the capacity to change games, to decide games, like many other players, and he wants to be at the top.
“Sometimes players have to create those moments, and he’s certainly done that today again. Do it at home, do it away, do it in big games, in the not-so-big games, and when the team needs it, not when it’s 3-0. That is what defines a top, top player. What he’s doing at his age is unbelievable. We have many examples of that as well.”
Saka is scaling his game to new heights. If this explosive start to the season continues, he could well fire Arsenal to the Premier League title.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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