Leicester v Arsenal Player Ratings – Martinelli back to his best form

Arsenal delivered an emphatically controlled performance against a recently dangerous Leicester team. This was a sharp contrast to the relative anarchy of the Villa game, as Arsenal were completely dominant and more reflective of their early season form.

It is worth highlighting that Leicester overwhelmed Man United on their own patch for the first thirty minutes last week and were unfortunate not to be two nil up in that game, so this game was a potential banana skin. It was a welcome relief to see the team purring again, and every member doing the basics to the high level we have come to expect. This creates the platform for the difference makers to shine.

Here are my ratings

Ramsdale (6)

How do you rate a player that had virtually nothing to do? Does a six sound fair? I have no idea, but I’m assuming that if he did have something to do he would have done it well!?!

White (7)

Did an excellent job in marshalling a very dangerous Harvey Barnes. Was on point every time Leicester tried to release their winger and limited him to one single cross.

Saliba (7)

Looked composed and concentrated,, although it’s fair to say that we wasn’t overly troubled. Sniffed out a few potential attacks before they developed.

Gabriel (8)

Was the primary reason why Leicester didn’t have a shot on target. Seemed to be in the right place every time the opposition got up a head of steam. His distribution was excellent, highlighted by a beautiful ball to Trossard that resulted in the goal.

Zinchenko (7)

Very nice touch to give him the captaincy in light of what is going on in his homeland. Was very effective in his roving role and cut out the misplaced passes that has plagued his recent appearances. Was instrumental in the fluency of Arsenal’s play.

Jorginho (7)

May be that rare beast of an ex-Chelsea player who suits Arsenal’s style of play. As Chelsea are not renowned for flowing football the transition has frequently been problematic but Jorginho looks to be enjoying himself. The best compliment I can pay him is that Partey’s absence hasn’t been a disaster.

Xhaka (7)

Xhaka does the simple things in football better than most midfielders. When Arsenal purr he is at the centre of it, but not noticeably. He’s like the spark plug in the engine of your car, you won’t notice it until it malfunctions.

Odegaard (6)

Not  at his most influential. His radar seemed slightly off in a couple of situations where he is normally ruthlessly efficient. That being said his pressing is always first class.

Saka (6)

Another who wasn’t quite delivering his usually lofty standards. Bizarrely was probably awarded more fouls in a game where he was fouled less, so the message must be getting through to protect him. May have been given a soft penalty, but it would have been soft. His opponent Kristiansenn was superb.

Trossard (7)

The other winter signing that has fitted in seamlessly. Has a very intelligent football brain and his understanding with his team mates is already at a high level, particularly with Martinelli. Was hugely unfortunate to have his wonderful strike disallowed and his assist for the goal was a sublime nutmeg.

Martinelli (8)

Castagne will be relieved he doesn’t have to face our Brazilian on this form every week. Was a constant danger throughout and tireless in his running. Took his goal calmly and precisely and also delivered a lot of dangerous crosses. What is exciting is that there is still a rawness there, so has room for improvement.

Overall this was a promising performance. The assurance of the passing and the solid structure of the team is hopefully an indication that the confidence is back and we have put our recent travails behind us.

How do you Gooners rate it?