Posted by Lineups
Scorecard
Reminder: The minute by minute is located here. The final scorecard is below:
| Att | Att | Att | Def | Def | Def | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | + | - | +/- | Goalkeeper | + | - | +/- | Total | Minutes |
| Aaron Ramsdale | 4 | 6 | -2 | Aaron Ramsdale | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 90 |
| Defenders | + | - | +/- | Defenders | + | - | +/- | Total | Minutes |
| Oleksandr Zinchenko | 6 | 5 | 1 | Oleksandr Zinchenko | 3 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 83 |
| Gabriel Magalhães | 1 | 2 | -1 | Gabriel Magalhães | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 90 |
| William Saliba | 2 | 1 | 1 | William Saliba | 9 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 90 |
| Ben White | 6 | 8 | -2 | Ben White | 13 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 90 |
| Kieran Tierney | 1 | 0 | 1 | Kieran Tierney | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Midfielders | + | - | +/- | Midfielders | + | - | +/- | Total | Minutes |
| Thomas Partey | 3 | 4 | -1 | Thomas Partey | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 90 |
| Granit Xhaka | 4 | 2 | 2 | Granit Xhaka | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 90 |
| Martin Ødegaard | 5 | 8 | -3 | Martin Ødegaard | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 90 |
| Albert Sambi Lokonga | DNC | DNC | DNC | Albert Sambi Lokonga | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 1 |
| Attackers | + | - | +/- | Attackers | + | - | +/- | Total | Minutes |
| Gabriel Martinelli | 7 | 3 | 4 | Gabriel Martinelli | 1 | 2 | -1 | 3 | 90 |
| Bukayo Saka | 9 | 10 | -1 | Bukayo Saka | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 90 |
| Gabriel Jesus | 10 | 4 | 6 | Gabriel Jesus | 5 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 83 |
| Eddie Nketiah | 4 | 0 | 4 | Eddie Nketiah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Total | 62 | 53 | 9 | Total | 62 | 27 | 35 | 44 | 991 |
Player Ratings
Gabriel Jesus
[+6 Att | +5 Def | +11 Ovr]
There were two headliners on the day; we’ll start with Gabriel Jesus, who was every bit as advertised from minute one. Well, minute four:
Alex Lacazette‘s been catching bullets from Arsenal Twitter all summer so I’ll try my best not to add to them, but it’s hard to put into words just how much better Arsenal are with a center forward who can run. And keep possession of the ball while doing so.
The clip above has everything: Relentless pressure and strength to win the ball back, speed to accelerate away from the defender, and truly outrageous technical ability to beat two Palace players in quick succession.
We knew his hold up play would change the way Arsenal played, but seeing it in his first Premier League game was refreshing all the same:
On the other side of the ball, there’s a reason why Pep Guardiola called him the best pressing CF in the world:
Watch him fake like he’s going around Guehi to the right before he swims back to the left and takes the ball off him. His lateral movements are so quick—are you even allowed to do that?
Here’s another clip of him doing the same, this time from distance:
This was my favorite sequence of his on the day:
The “FUCK you” he gave Anthony Taylor will be memed into oblivion, by this website at least.
Jesus is hungry in ways that no Arsenal attacker has been since Alexis Sanchez. And he’s miles better at it than Sanchez was. Jesus didn’t score. He did basically everything else. Arsenal have got themselves a star.
William Saliba
[+1 Att | +9 Def | +10 Ovr]
Oooooohweeeeeeee. If Gabriel Jesus is a star then I don’t know what to call William Saliba.
There are probably five defenders in world football that have his combination of physical attributes and technical ball skills. And none of them are 21 years old.
Watch him close on Wilfried Zaha here:
I mean, that’s outrageous; he’s at least twice as far from the ball as Zaha is, and in the end it’s not even a 50/50.
He’s silk on the ball too:
I don’t know who this Mateta guy is, and Saliba probably doesn’t either because he can’t get close to him. Thank you for coming.
Here’s his best play of the day:
Initially I thought this year’s World Cup would come too soon to see him start at CB for France at a major international tournament. And it still might be—Crystal Palace was just one game. But many more like this and he’ll be driving the bus to Qatar himself.
Ben White
[-2 Att | +8 Def | +6 Ovr]
The only other Arsenal player to break +5 on the day, Ben White did so while both playing out of position at right back, and going up against Wilfried Zaha.
White ran step for step with Zaha all game. Sometimes literally:
Anytime Zaha tried to body him, White showed good strength to force the Palace man backwards. And, with one exception, didn’t fall for any of his feints and turns either:
Arsenal paid €60 million for him because of what he can do on the ball, and playing right back allowed him to get forward a bit more than maybe he’s used to. I loved this combination with Saka:
He did spray two successive passes straight out of bounds inside of 10 minutes, and get turned inside the box by Zaha (the Saliba slide tackle above), so his day wasn’t perfect. It was good enough for me. Significantly.
Looking Ahead: Matchday 2 vs. Leicester City
Both Arsenal and Leicester took two goal leads on the opening weekend of the season, but only Leicester gave theirs back. Arsenal will be hoping they’re feeling just as generous, both on the field on Saturday, and in rumored transfer negotiations for Youri Tielemans.
The Foxes have essentially sat the summer transfer market out, selling GK Kasper Schmeichel for €1 million and doing nothing else.
They’ll need to do something if they have any hope of finishing in the top half of the Premier League table. Thankfully for Arsenal, they’re not likely to do any incoming business before Saturday.
If Arsenal are serious about a top-four chase, they’ll have to take all three points. And with a new-age squad that can actually run, they’re set up to do just that.
Prediction: Arsenal 3 – 0 Leicester City