Arsenal were held to a 2–2 draw by Crystal Palace at the Emirates last night. Below are the player ratings following the match.
David Raya – 6.5
Conceded twice on a demanding evening, with limited support from his defenders.
Jurrien Timber – 7.0
Faced persistent pressure from Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze but coped admirably in his defensive duties.
William Saliba – 5.5
Was performing well until a careless pass allowed Palace to equalise and cost Arsenal their lead.
Jakub Kiwior – 7.0
Maintained his excellent form and opened the scoring with a composed finish.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 6.0
Not his finest performance in an Arsenal shirt, though he was not the weakest player on the pitch.
Declan Rice – 6.0
A relatively subdued display from the midfielder, who has otherwise impressed in recent weeks.
Thomas Partey – 5.5
Failed to replicate his Champions League form and allowed Adam Wharton too much influence in midfield.
Martin Odegaard – 6.5
Assisted the opening goal and will be key for Arsenal in their upcoming clash against PSG.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6.5
Lively throughout and had a goal disallowed after the ball had already gone out for a goal kick.
Leandro Trossard – 7.5
Delivered another strong performance and continues to give Arsenal reasons to retain him beyond the current campaign.
Raheem Sterling – 6.0
Missed opportunities again, and his exit from the club feels increasingly inevitable.
Substitutes
Bukayo Saka – 5.5
Came off the bench but failed to make a meaningful impact.
Ethan Nwaneri – N/A
Kieran Tierney – N/A
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The lads are tired, its evident and are not focused on the EPL as it has little meaning. As long we make top 4, it seems acceptable. Do not blame the players, they need to be rested/rotated. What are the remaining 12-13 reserve players doing? Why are perennially injured players – Gab J, Tomi, Zinny or horrendous ones like Jorginho and Sterling on the roster? That us 5 players or nealry half a team that could be rotated for meaningless matches. Blame the manager and his myopic sight not to hire players worth their wage and running down the players in training so that we have more injuries in training then on matchdays.
Unacceptable, yet understandable result.
League is over, CL qualification sorted, second place almost done, so all the focus is rightly on the CL.
Also, and has been the case all season, the injuries are continuing to play a key role in our results. With many still missing, we had to use too many against Palace, that will start against PSG.
Meaning too many half hearted performances because no one wants to get injured. Which is also understandable given the context of this season and injuries. With another 3 players dropping out from our previous league fixture. Almost every league game we’re losing someone!
Ok ratings but for me Raya was barely a 5 and Kiwior was an 8. Raya was a complete liability whist Kiwior not only scored a great goal but saved us so many times with vital blocks and tackles.
We actually might not even make top 5.
Apart from Chelsea, everyone elses run in is easier than ours so if we’re not careful, Nottingham/City/Newcastle will surpass us.
Has Salibas head been turned? Seems like he’s not focused for his club.
I think top 5 is pretty much secured looking at the others fixtures. If Liverpool can do us a favour and beat or even draw against Chelsea at the weekend then I will say its settled.
I expect us to beat Bournemouth and Southampton either way.
All eyes are on Tuesday which is understandable.
Do all the teams that finish in the top 5 automatically go into the group stage, or will some still have to play qualifiers?
I dont know what game you watched but Partey was the second best player on that pitch after Kiwior .
Hopefully he leaves this club for his own sanity, He doesnt deserve this forced hate .
Unfortunately for every 2 steps forward we take a step back. Too many peaks and valleys regarding performances, never sure which Arsenal team will show up.
We did it to ourselves; too many draws and dropped points. That is all on us, Liverpool played no role in that.
Hard to complain about depth or lack thereof, especially when they hang on to players like Jesus, Zinchenko, and Tomiyasu.
Often injured and too unreliable in fitness to depend on them for sustaining runs and fighting for titles.
13th draw this year? If we could have held on in 7 or 8 out of 13 we would be top of the table, in spite of injuries.
How many times have we dropped 2 points rather than coming back and saving a point?
It’s clear the focus wasn’t there.
As for Odegaard’s rating, besides the assist I think he was pretty average, but I understand, these guys all have their eyes on next week.
The gaffer needs to help Odegaard, he’s trying but he’s too much a nice guy,
Arsenal need another creative midfielder to mix things up creates things out of nothing, someone too with bags of tricks and a little nastiness.
All teams need to do these days , is put five across the back then watch us run around like headless chicken.
Just hope PSG is not watching
Gunsmoke, if it us that easy, why didn’t RM do exactly that, let alone those clubs in the PL we have beaten?
Ken
Sorry to jump in, but it is a very good and interesting question you pose.
I would say in Real Madrid’s case (and maybe a few others) HOW they play is as important as the result. Real would never show fear and play a back 5 or park the bus, simply unacceptable to their fans and intolerable.
The same for us many times under Wenger; we played football and took chances, we did not hide or close up shop and park the bus. To our detriment sometimes yes, but look how that style set a tone at our club, changed the English league, and created fans around the world.
The day Real Madrid plays a back 5 or parks the bus is the day I stop watching football; that would be the dying gasp of a beautiful game.
There is something wrong happening to Saliba. This is the second time he is making a similar mistake! Has he become complacent? The first time it could have been forgiven but you don’t repeat the same mistake consecutively. What could be the cause? Could it be that he misses Gabriel? He now needs to pull up his socks, especially for Tuesday’s game. Once is an accident, twice is a habit! Thus, Saliba should reexamine himself.
The most important point is no player come out injured and that is a ten