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Just six months into his stint with Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, Roberto Firmino has been reported to be looking to leave the club.

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Firmino could leave Al-AhliJoined the club six months agoAl-Ettifaq interested in the player(C)GettyImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Just three goals have been scored by the 32-year-old in his 17 outings for Al-Ahli. The legendary player from Liverpool has now lost his spot in the all-star team led by Matthias Jaissle and hasn't started a game since late October. The Mirror reports that Steven Gerrard is looking to get Firmino back together with his old Liverpool teammates Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum at Al-Ettifaq.

AdvertisementWHAT GERRARD SAID

Gerrard recently talked about potential interest in Firmino [via The Mirror]: "I obviously know Bobby extremely well, I've been a massive fan. I've followed him for years. At the moment, he's Al-Ahli's player, so it's very difficult for me to comment on that situation. But I've loved Bobby Firmino since the first day I watched him and I'm a huge fan."

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Al-Ahli boasts a number of marquee players within their ranks including former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin, Edouard Mendy, Franck Kessie, Gabri Veiga, Merih Demiral and Roger Ibanez. The Saudi league only permits six foreign players in the team, thus the sale of the Brazilian would clear the way for another international acquisition.

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WHAT NEXT FOR FIRMINO?

Al-Ahli will next be in action when they take on Al-Khaleej on Friday, December 29. The game could be Firmino's last for the side as the league will break for the winter and return in mid-February.

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake is close to signing a new long-term deal at the club, according to an update from journalist Fabrizio Romano.

When is Nathan Ake out of contract?

Pep Guardiola's side enjoyed a truly legendary season last time around, winning the treble after securing Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup glory. It was a monstrous effort from everyone involved, with the manager showing why he is one of the best of all time, and so many players doing their bit for the cause.

While the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan may have often made the headlines, Ake was an outstanding performer in his own right, playing with such consistency and authority throughout the campaign. He started 22 Premier League games, averaging 1.8 clearances per game and enjoying a 91.1% pass completion rate, also featuring five times for the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup.

The 28-year-old only has two years remaining on his current City contract, and given his importance to the squad last season, the club will surely be wanting to extend his stay as soon as possible. That certainly looks set to be the case, following a promising new update.

Is Nathan Ake set to sign a new Man City deal?

Taking to Twitter, Romano provided a positive update regarding Ake's future at the Etihad, saying a contract extension is now close to coming to fruition:

"Manchester City are close to reaching an agreement with Nathan Ake over new long term deal. Talks are advanced – understand it’s just matter of time to get it done. Salary will be significantly improved, as Telegraaf reported."

This is brilliant news for anyone of a City persuasion, with Ake really growing into his role at the club after what was arguably a fairly slow start there, having arrived from Bournemouth back in 2020. The Dutchman has displayed his versatility superbly, allowing him to shine at both centre-back and left-back, and he has played with so much intelligence and defensive nous in recent times.

Guardiola has described Ake as a "proper defender", while former City striker Paul Dickov has lauded him as "fantastic", following a particularly impressive performance up against Arsenal's dangerous attacker Bukayo Saka last season. Having players of his ilk around is so important to the club's success moving forward, given his consistency and knowledge of the system, so the idea of him signing an extension is good to hear.

At 28, there is no reason why the Netherlands international can't continue to be an important figure at the Etihad for the next four or five years, becoming an even more experienced head, and he is a great example and showing patience with a player and seeing them eventually develop into a real force.

Ake will have to continue to improve, such is the level of competition at City in defence, but he has shown that he is ready to fight for his place, and his spot in the starting lineup became undeniable at times last season, including in the Champions League final win over Inter Milan in June.

England’s head coach has hinted that the batting line-up is unlikely to change much for the series against Pakistan in May, despite few of the issues being resolved over the winter

Andrew McGlashan04-Apr-2018Head coach Trevor Bayliss has hinted that the England batting line-up is unlikely to change much for the series against Pakistan in May, despite few of the issues being resolved over the last five months, but he called on domestic players to show they are better than those currently in the team.Bayliss conceded that England ended their 2017-18 Test campaign with largely the same questions as they began with following five defeats and two draws having been foiled by New Zealand’s lower-order on the final day in Christchurch.Over the seven Tests against Australia and New Zealand, Dawid Malan was the one batsman to enhance his reputation. Mark Stoneman and James Vince showed moments of encouragement but the pair finished averaging 30.23 and 30.54 respectively across all the Tests. Vince missed the Auckland Test when the line-up was reshuffled due to Ben Stokes being unable to bowl and returned with 76 in the second innings in Christchurch while Stoneman scored half-centuries in each Test.Bayliss on…

Jack Leach “He’s the one who holds the position at this stage and I thought he had a good game for someone playing his first Test. He had good composure. Like anyone playing his first game or two, he’s still got a few things to learn at this level but I think he bowled a good line and didn’t give too much away which was a good thing.”
The batting order “We have tried Jonny up the list previously and I think he’s quite comfortable at No. 7 but he’s obviously a very good player. I think that will be revisited especially if some of the other guys don’t cement a spot and start averaging 45-plus for the batters.”
Catching “We’ve got to work harder. If what we’re doing is not working we’ve got to do it even more. We’ve tried to up the catching and fielding and at times we field and catch extremely well, as good as anyone, but it doesn’t mean you’re a good fielder if you’re inconsistent.”

“I think what they’ve all shown over this winter is that they are good players and they’ve scored some runs against quality opposition bowlers,” Bayliss said. “But what we need from them is to be doing it more often. They’re averaging high 20s, we need them to get that up and hopefully put another 20 on that.”Probably the same questions are still there but Malan for example played pretty well against the pace in Australia and the other two guys at different times stood up. Vince made a couple of good scores. Stoneman under a fair bit of pressure and a barrage of short-pitched bowling handled himself reasonably well but again to be an international batter we need to be doing better than that.”And the other side of that is who do we replace them with? We need guys and I guess this is a call-out to the guys in county cricket, the first five or six matches of the county season are very important. We’ve got Liam Livingstone here and the other one I’ll add in who’s impressed in the nets is Ben Foakes. He’s batting very well also. So there’s a couple of guys in this squad who can hopefully score runs and put a bit of pressure on and make the selectors job difficult which is what we all want.”The batting was not helped by Alastair Cook’s lean time, other than his double-century in Melbourne, which was compounded by a miserable series in New Zealand where he made 23 runs in four innings. Cook has reiterated to Bayliss that he has the desire to continue to add to his 154-cap career and after a couple of weeks off he will look to recuperate in the County Championship for Essex.”It’s dangerous to write off someone with 12,000 Test runs. He’s desperately disappointed he hasn’t contributed more but speaking to him in the sheds, he’s still got a hunger for the game and he’s still wants to do well and thinks he’s got a role to play,” Bayliss said. “Going forward I think having someone with that experience we will need, so hopefully it’s not too long before he gets back into the groove.”Then there is the captain. Root is England’s best batsman but can’t break his run of unconverted half-centuries, which now stands at nine, with two more in New Zealand added to the five in Australia (although retiring ill in Sydney can’t be held against him). Having come off a distinct second best to Steven Smith in the Ashes it was a slightly closer tussle with Kane Williamson as the New Zealand captain followed his Auckland century with a lean Test in Christchurch. Coming up for Root later this year is the head-to-head with Virat Kohli.Bayliss remains largely phlegmatic about Root’s conversion rate and would like to see the rest of the batting order take some pressure off the captain. There were just four centuries scored across the seven Tests in Australia and New Zealand, two by Jonny Bairstow and one apiece for Cook and Malan.”I’m sure he would have liked a few more runs himself but there’s a fair bit of pressure on him to be the one who scores the runs and we need a few more runs from some of the other guys,” Bayliss said. “I think that would take a little bit of the pressure off Joe. But he’s a guy who sets himself very high standards so I’m sure he’d be a little bit disappointed he hasn’t turned some of the starts into big hundreds.”

The new-look Adelaide Strikers, led by opener Alex Carey and legspinner Rashid Khan, secured a 53-run win over Sydney Thunder to get their campaign off to the perfect start

The Report by Alex Malcolm in Adelaide22-Dec-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe new-look Adelaide Strikers were a bit of mystery coming into this year’s tournament. But their rejuvenated line-up, with the help of mystery legspinner Rashid Khan, delivered a dominant win over the Sydney Thunder to get their campaign off to the perfect start.Rashid weaved some magic, taking 2 for 22 from his four overs, to sink the Thunder. But he was helped by the work of new opener Alex Carey’s 44 off 26 balls that laid the foundation for a defendable total of 163. Then Peter Siddle, the new recruit, delivered a frugal opening two overs and removed the dangerous Jos Buttler to put the Thunder well behind the asking rate in the chase.The Strikers had made an excellent start after winning the toss and batting first, save for the early dismissal of Jake Weatherald.Getty ImagesGiven the task of replacing last year’s leading scorer Ben Dunk at the top of the order, Carey looked right at home. He struck five crisp boundaries and launched two sixes. One was inside-out over cover against a turning legbreak from Fawad Ahmed, the other a flat slog sweep against a turning offbreak from Arjun Nair.Travis Head wasn’t quite as fluid at the other end but the Strikers were 1 for 89 from 9.4 overs before Head was brilliantly caught behind by Buttler off Nair.The Strikers then hit the skids. They scored 34 runs from the next 37 deliveries of spin offered by Fawad, Nair and Chris Green and lost Carey and Colin Ingram in the process. Nair got the spoils with three wickets but Green delivered 12 valuable dots in his four overs.The Strikers scrounged 40 runs in the last four overs that featured a couple of controversial moments. Jake Lehmann was dropped by Mitch McClenaghan but the New Zealand quick felt he was obstructed by the non-striker Jonathan Wells. McClenaghan still got both hands to the relatively simple chance and Wells had done nothing but hold his ground as McClenaghan tried to get around him.McClenaghan, however, had a decision go his way in the last over. He delivered a full toss well above waist height but was not penalised a no-ball. The next delivery should have been a free-hit but wasn’t, and Lehmann holed out for 23.The Thunder started poorly in the chase. Siddle and Billy Stanlake bowled long-form lines and lengths and Kurtis Patterson and Shane Watson did little to try and throw them off. At one stage the Thunder were 1 for 23 after five overs. Four boundaries in the next two overs then pushed the run rate past six. Watson tried to force Head’s offspin over the long boundary and fell 20m short.Rashid then settled into his work. His first three balls cost nine runs. His next 12 cost just seven runs and yielded two wickets. He had Ryan Gibson nicking off with a quick, full legbreak with Carey making the catching behind look a lot easier than it was. Two balls later Ben Rohrer was completely bamboozled by a world-class wrong ‘un that clipped the top of his off stump.Patterson was the Thunder’s only hope having scored 48 of his team’s 81 runs by the 12th over but he picked out midwicket in the next over. Ben Laughlin cleaned up the tail with three wickets in four balls. Siddle finished with the remarkable figures of 2 for 6 from three overs.

In the search for more defensive reinforcements, Crystal Palace are exploring the chance of signing a player from a fellow London club…

What’s the latest Crystal Palace transfer news?

According to the Daily Mail, the Eagles have 'shown an interest' in signing Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu this summer.

However, given Jurrien Timber’s devastating ACL injury, the right-back could be set for a more prominent role in the squad.

Would Takehiro Tomiyasu be a good signing for Crystal Palace?

Tomiyasu joined Arsenal in the summer of 2021 for a reported fee of £16m.

Upon his arrival, Mikel Arteta was extremely satisfied with the signing and said:

“Takehiro is a strong defender with good experience in Serie A and at international level. He’s a versatile defender with great defensive qualities, high technical ability and composure on the ball. He will be an important member of our squad.”

Since then, the 32-cap international has accumulated 55 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners. In his debut year in the English capital, Tomiyasu made 20 Premier League starts, averaging 1.7 tackles per game, completing 60% of his dribbles, and winning 55% of his duels.

However, the £55k-per-week titan’s progress has been hampered by injury issues, having missed 23 games in two years due to separate knee and calf problems.

Tomiyasu is still highly regarded in the Arsenal dressing room, with teammate Ben White saying:

“Tomi is amazing. He’s always focused, it’s an honour to play next to him.

“Tomi does the simple things at a world-class level. He is very alert and he isn’t careless in games.”

White’s comments are supported by Tomiyasu’s quality in the defensive and offensive thirds. The former is showcased by his rank in the best 11% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for tackles per 90, interceptions per 90, and aerials won per 90.

The Japan "warrior" – as he was once lauded by former teammate Mitchell Dijks – has also displayed he is technical and comfortable on the ball, sitting within the highest 1% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for progressive passes per 90, as well as the best 21% for pass completion per 90 and touches in the attacking penalty area per 90.

Ironically, the 24-year-old was sent off against Palace in Arsenal’s tense 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park on Monday evening, but given the evidence above, he could be an incredibly useful asset for Roy Hodgson and could potentially form an eye-catching partnership on the right with Michael Olise.

The winger had been expected to join Chelsea, who looked to set to activate his £35m release clause, but Olise opted to sign a new £80k-per-week contract at Palace, keeping him at the club for another four years.

The joyous technician is of insurmountable importance to the South London outfit, as last term, he was the first Palace player to register 10 or more assists in a single top-flight campaign and became the youngster ever Premier League player to record three assists from open play in one match. As a result, he was named the club’s Players’ Player of the Season.

Given Tomiyasu’s defensive solidity and Olise’s attacking exuberance, they could be a highly effective combination.

Wrexham have confirmed that Jake Bickerstaff has joined Accrington Stanley on loan for the rest of the season.

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Bickerstaff joins Accrington StanleyPart of a clearout at the club Will not be allowed to play against Red DragonsWHAT HAPPENED?

Bickerstaff has left on loan for the rest of the season as part of the clearout at Wrexham as they can only register 21 players. With the signings of Luke Bolton, Jack Marriott and Luke McNicholas and the return of Scott Butler from his loan, they needed to offload a few players.

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In his 15 appearances this season, including eight starts, centre-forward Bickerstaff has scored twice. He scored his first EFL goal during the club's win over Walsall in August and then got his second the following week as they drew 5-5 with Swindon Town. In 28 games throughout his Red Dragons career, he has scored six goals.

DID YOU KNOW?

Wrexham have also announced that the striker will not be allowed to play against Phil Parkinson's side as the club has included a clause in the contract with League Two rivals Accrington.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BICKERSTAFF?

It is not known if the 22-year-old will be in action with Accrington in their next game when they take on Grimsby Town on Saturday, February 3. They will play against Wrexham on March 3.

Mauricio Pochettino admits Chelsea could dip into the transfer market after losing Christopher Nkunku to a fresh injury worry.

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Chelsea could replace Nkunku in transfer marketPochettino worried by latest injury setbackBlues lack centre-forward optionsWHAT HAPPENED?

Having previously suggested it wasn't necessary to sign another forward this month, Pochettino was asked if Nkunku's hip injury has changed Chelsea's view with regard to a possible transfer hunt. He replied that, depending on the severity, it may now do.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT POCHETTINO SAID

"It's true that now in the next few days, we are going to see the situation. That's why I told you that I am a little worried," the Chelsea boss told reporters ahead of Saturday's game against Fulham.

"I still don't have all the information about whether [Nkunku] is going to be available or not for a small initial period. We need to be very clinical to take some decisions to think and see how we fix the problem.

"All of these situations make our job a little more difficult. I told you before that it is an exciting project but situations like this make it more difficult to change the situation and grow at a different pace."

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Nkunku was signed for £53 million ($67m) last June, a deal thought to have been agreed at least six months earlier. But Chelsea fans have barely seen the player who scored 58 goals in 88 appearances in his final two seasons at RB Leipzig, due to a pre-season knee injury that required surgery and delayed the Frenchman's debut until December. He had only played four times in all competitions by the time he was sidelined again with a hip problem suffered in early January. Pochettino had earlier admitted he is 'worried' by the injury and another absence.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

Chelsea need to assess just how long Nkunku will be ruled out for and then need to make a decision on whether they need to reinforce while the January transfer window is open. Although the Blues have Cole Palmer and several wingers, Armando Broja is the only available striker in the first-team squad while Nicolas Jackson is on Senegal duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sean Dyche defended Amadou Onana after his weak penalty led to Everton's heartbreaking shootout defeat to Fulham in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

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Everton crashed out of Carabao CupOnana & Idrissa Gueye missed from the spot in shootoutDyche defended the duo after failed spot-kicksWHAT HAPPENED?

The Toffees suffered a heart-wrenching exit from the cup competition after losing in a dramatic penalty shootout against Fulham. Onana's shockingly weak effort was saved by Fulham's Bernd Leno, leading to Everton's fourth penalty shootout defeat in six years. Idrissa Gueye hit the post in sudden death before Tosin Adarabioyo's successful penalty propelled Fulham into their first League Cup semi-final with a 7-6 victory after the two teams were locked at 1-1 after regulation time.

Onana has been criticised for his approach to taking the penalty, but Dyche defended him and instead hailed his courage to step up and take responsibility in a crunch moment.

AdvertisementWHAT SEAN DYCHE SAID

Talking to reporters, Dyche said: "Everyone has a style of penalty which they think can score. His record has been very strong in all the rounds and when we’ve practised them. That’s his style. If you are brave enough to get up there and take one then you have to be brave enough for the consequences.

"The first question is always who doesn’t want to take one. Simple as that because you need to want to take one. I’m pleased to say the whole group said they would take one. It is the moment of truth: the ball’s there, you have to put it in the net.”

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Dyche believes that his Everton players deserve a pat on their backs for their performance despite bowing out of the tournament. "I thought the performance was another strong one," he said. "We didn't find the true quality in the end of lots of good moves, we got into some really good positions but I'm not going to question that, lately we've been very good at that. The general performance was very strong again, having to change the style and move people. Jarrad [Branthwaite] was excellent playing at left-back, Jimmy Garner was tremendous higher up the pitch.

"There were still some very strong signs of what we're doing. Unfortunately, it doesn't pay you back tonight but it will do over the rest of the season as long as we stick with the principles and keep delivering performances like that."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Everton were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in a penalty shootout for the fourth time in six years. The Toffees have never won the competition, but did finish as runners-up in both 1977 and 1984.

Manchester United have put a poor start to the season behind them as they have won successive matches for the first time, defeating Burnley and Crystal Palace and this should give them confidence.

Erik ten Hag would’ve hoped his side were going to kick on from a positive maiden term in Manchester for the Dutchman, yet it hasn’t quite gone to plan.

His summer arrivals haven’t really hit the ground running while a series of injury problems has left United short in key areas, most notably the defence and attack.

This has led the former Ajax boss to utilise the services of several youngsters in his first team so far, as Alejandro Garnacho, Hannibal Mejbri and Facundo Pellistri all stepping up when it matters most and giving Ten Hag something to think about.

The Old Trafford side are of course, famous for believing in young talent since the days of Sir Matt Busby and a plethora of academy graduates have played a key role in United’s success over the years.

Marcus Rashford has arguably been one of the finest players to emerge from the youth ranks in the previous decade as he has established himself as one of United’s best players and the Red Devils have certainly struck gold on him, especially considering his market value.

When did Marcus Rashford make his Manchester United debut?

During Louis Van Gaal’s final season in 2015/16, United dropped from the Champions League into the Europa League and headed into their second leg tie against FC Midtjylland trailing 2-1 from the first leg.

Due to various injuries, the Dutchman gave Rashford his first start for the club and he went on to score twice as the Red Devils won 5-1 on the night, and it was certainly the catalyst which sent the youngster on his way to stardom.

Indeed, just three days later, he netted a double on his Premier League debut against Arsenal to secure a 3-2 win, and it was looking like the teenager was going to be a regular fixture until the end of that season.

These performances laid the foundations for the career the Englishman has gone on to have, while his value has since skyrocketed following his embryonic stages at the club.

What is Marcus Rashford’s market value now?

Having cost United nothing due to working his way through the youth ranks, the winger is now currently valued at €62.3m (£54m) according to Football Transfers and this represents a stunning rise over the previous few years.

His value actually peaked at €82.7m (£71.5m) back in November 2021, yet if he continues to showcase the form which has turned him into one of United’s main goal scoring outlets since Ten Hag arrived, his value could return to this figure, or even surpass it.

The Dutchman won't be looking to sell him anytime soon, yet if the player wanted a move away from Old Trafford, they would stand to rake in a momentous profit on the 25-year-old as he looks to be heading into the prime years of his career.

Why is Marcus Rashford worth this much?

Although the 5 foot 10 sensation enjoyed a breakthrough first few months in 2016, it took him a few years to finally remain consistent enough in order to score ten or more Premier League goals during a single season.

This came during the 2018/19 campaign, scoring 17 goals across all competitions, and it was clear that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – who took charge midway through that term – had a player he could trust to score 15 or more goals every season.

Returns of 22 and 21 efforts over the next two seasons indicated that Rashford was becoming the main man at the Red Devils, yet his form dipped during 2021/22, scoring only five times all season which saw the Norwegian sacked as the manager.

With a new era set to begin following the appointment of Ten Hag ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, it represented a fresh start for the 25-year-old, and it was one that he relished.

Across a total of 56 matches, Rashford scored 30 goals and grabbed a further 11 assists and this was his best total in a single season since he broke onto the scene at the back end of the 2015/16 campaign.

He ranked first across the United squad in the league for goals and assists (22), while also finishing top of the pile for shots on target per game (1.4) and successful dribbles per game (1.5) as he was arguably the star of the season for Ten Hag.

When compared to positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues, Rashford’s performances ranked him in the top 1% for total shots per 90 (3.84), the top 3% for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.53) and the top 9% for touches in the opposition penalty area per 90 (6.39) which is further proof that he is one of the finest forwards on the continent.

Although he has only scored once and registered two assists in seven games this term, he has been hailed for his performances, with analyst Statman Dave dubbing him “electric” due to his impressive first-half performance against Brighton and Hove Albion a few weeks ago.

If Ten Hag wants his reign at United to be a success, keep Rashford motivated will surely be his main task and this includes keeping him fit and happy while deploying him on his favoured position – the left wing.

Throughout his career, he has played 182 matches on the left wing, contributing 62 goals and 41 assists during those ties, and it is imperative that he continues to get utilised in this role.

The Old Trafford side have hit the jackpot on the talented winger, there’s no doubt about that and his rise from rough diamond into one of the best performers in the top flight suggest that there is hope for the majority of young players who are trying to emerge from the United academy.

Rashford is a beacon of hope for many people, both inside and outside the club and his value rising to stratospheric levels indicate that the club are still doing some things correctly.

Mikel Arteta's side picked up a first win at Goodison Park since 2017 thanks to a second-half strike from Leandro Trossard.

Leandro Trossard staked his claim for a place in the starting XI at Arsenal after coming off the bench to score the winner for the Gunners at Goodison Park.

The Gunners did find the back of the net in the first half through Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian's effort was ruled out for offside and he was then forced off injured and replaced by Trossard.

Mikel Arteta's side made hard work of breaking down Everton until a flowing move in the second half involving Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka was finished off by Trossard in spectacular fashion to secure all three points.

GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Goodison Park…

GettyGoalkeeper & Defence

David Raya (5/10):

Handed a surprise Arsenal debut in place of Aaron Ramsdale and had very little to do. A virtual spectator such was Everton's lack of attacking threat.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (8/10):

Lively showing from the Ukraine international, who was one of Arsenal's better performers. Was good on the ball and ventured further forwards in the second half in a bid to help his side break the deadlock.

William Saliba (7/10):

Easy on the eye and simply looked a cut above all game. Barely put a foot wrong and handled Beto well.

Ben White (6/10):

Saw plenty of the ball but was never really troubled at the back – albeit against a timid Everton side.

Gabriel (6/10):

Booked for blocking off Beto's run but no other problems defensively.

AdvertisementGettyMidfield

Declan Rice (7/10):

Took control of the midfield and it's difficult to remember a misplaced pass. Was part of a lovely passing sequence that led to the only goal of the game.

Martin Odegaard (7/10):

Will probably feel aggrieved not to have been on the scoresheet after twice being denied by Jordan Pickford. Played a key role in the goal and his usual influential presence in midifeld.

Bukayo Saka (7/10):

Not his best game for Arsenal at all, and came in for some heavy tackles, but was effective yet again by picking up another assist.

GettyAttack

Fabio Vieira (8/10)

Came into the team in place of Kai Havertz and impressed with some clever passing. Slid a lovely ball through to Martinelli but the goal was ruled out. Also created chances for Saka and Odegaard.

Eddie Nketiah (4/10)

Kept his place in the starting XI ahead of Gabriel Jesus but never looked like scoring. No surprise to see him replaced by the Brazilian with the scoreline still goalless.

Gabriel Martinelli (6/10)

Thought he had opened the scoring after applying a Thierry Henry-esque finish to Fabio Vieira's fine pass. Picked up an injury minutes later and was forced off.

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GettySubs and manager

Leandro Trossard (7/10):

Came on midway through the first half after an injury to Martinelli and was pretty quiet until he broke the deadlock with a great finish from Saka's cross.

Gabriel Jesus (5/10):

Replaced Nketiah on 65 minutes with Arsenal desperate for more threat. The Brazilian loves scoring against Everton but had few chances to add to his tally here.

Takehiro Tomiyasu (5/10):

Sent on late to help close the game out.

Kai Havertz (5/10):

Given the last 10 minutes but no real time to make an impact.

Mikel Arteta (6/10):

Made changes to his team, most notably in goal, but saw his team struggle to break down a dogged Everton side. His decision to start Vieira was a good one with the midfielder enjoying some lively moments but it needed something special from Trossard to secure the three points.