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Bukayo Saka is one of the best players in Europe right now and we couldn’t help but pick out the stats which show he truly is Arsenal’s starboy.
The Gunners have been going well in the Premier League as they hold an eight-point lead at the top. Saka himself has been integral to how they play and he is now in double figures for both goals and assists.
He has already surpassed the number of goals he scored last season and it still feels as if there is more to come from him. Still only 21 years old, the future is bright for Arsenal’s starboy.
Saka was on hand to score a brace against Crystal Palace and Mikel Arteta was thrilled with his performance. “I think the team did really well and we obviously have individuals that excel to be at the level that we want,” Arteta told the club website.
“But he was really, really good today again, affecting the result with his contribution, especially in the opponent’s box, so I’m really happy.
“He’s improving because he’s got the right team-mates that make him better, and that’s really important.
“It’s true that he affected the game in the right way for us and he’s been really consistent. We need to maintain that.
“He remains humble, he knows that he can still be much better, do things a lot better than he does and that’s a big given because he’s still 21 years old.”
We’ve been swept along in all of the Saka hype this season and we’ve gone ahead and picked out nine stats which show he truly is Arsenal’s starboy.
– Saka has 22 goal contributions in the Premier League, with 10 goals and 12 assists. He is one of only five players in Europe who have also managed this.
READ: The 5 players in Europe’s top leagues with 10+ goals & assists: Messi, Saka…
– He is only the eighth Arsenal player to have registered double figures in goals and assists in a Premier League season. Other Arsenal players to have done this are the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Cesc Fabregas.
– At just 21 years old, Saka is the youngest-ever Arsenal player to have produced 10+ goals and assists in a season. The previous record was held by Fabregas who did the same at 22.
– Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are the only players in the league with more goal contributions than Saka. Considering they are both strikers, that’s some going from Arsenal’s number seven.
– Saka has been involved in 33.3% of the goals Arsenal have scored in the league and so without his input, the Gunners would be significantly worse off.
Bukayo Saka take a bow 😮💨
An emphatic strike from Saka puts Arsenal back on level terms! pic.twitter.com/nhhrhbBvQ5
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 18, 2023
– The winger has overperformed his xG by 3.2, which further shows how clinical he has been. The only Arsenal player with a higher xG overperformance is Gabriel Martinelli.
– The Arsenal man has made a total of 124 shot-creating actions in the Premier League, only four players have managed more than this.
– Saka has completed more successful dribbles than any other Premier League player with 46. On average, he completes 37% of the dribbles he attempts.
– Four of his 12 goals have been match-winners. He has also scored five goals against the ‘big six’ which shows he has a knack for turning up in the big games.
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