Arsenal came from behind to beat Leeds 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench to score the winner, finishing off a fine team move from the Gunners. Many have credited the Brazilian for completely changing the game, but it was another Arsenal player who made Troy Deeney’s Premier League Team of the Week for BBC Sport.
That player was Riccardo Calafiori, and Deeney made a bold claim about the Italian defender. “He’s probably Arsenal’s best forward at the moment,” the former Watford striker wrote. “Getting in really good positions, defensively solid, but also offers you a lot from assists and goals.”
It’s a bizarre shout but perhaps one that’s not so unreasonable. Mikel Arteta’s side have been really blunt in attack the last couple of games now, raising questions about their summer business. So much so that they needed a left-back to score to get them back in the game against Leeds.
Arsenal vs Leeds TalkingPoints
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Noni Madueke delivered an inviting cross from the right, Ben White nodded it back across goal, and Calafiori was at the back post to scramble it home. It wasn’t a clean finish, but there was enough on it to send the ball beyond James Trafford.
Calafiori has now been involved in three of Arsenal’s 10 Premier League goals this season, and has scored in back-to-back games for both club and country after his goal for Italy against Turkey.
His willingness to burst into the box, arrive late and find the right position has been a constant theme so far this season, and Jamie Carragher has been so impressed he has labelled him ‘by far and away’ the best left-back in the league.
Riccardo Calafiori has now become even more important to Arsenal
The Gunners will need to lean on him even more now too, after Piero Hincapie had to be carried off during the warm-down after the Leeds win. The extent of his injury isn’t known yet, but the fact that he had to be carried off suggests he couldn’t put weight on his injured limb, and that’s obviously not good.
Calafiori’s fitness issues have derailed him from making any sort of serious momentum in previous seasons, and Arteta will be reluctant to play him every game to risk another setback. That may suggest Myles Lewis-Skelly could be called upon to revert back to left-back in certain games, perhaps starting on Tuesday night against Lille.