Arsenal managed to get all three points against Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday, but despite the slender lead, Arsenal spurned a lot of chances, which included a Leandro Trossard missed penalty and had David Raya to thank for keeping the lead intact when he made a brilliant save from a Pedrinho shot.
In the 72nd minute, Mikel Arteta opted to substitute left back, Riccardo Calafiori, as he was clearly struggling with the innocuous injury he suffered early on, but despite having two experienced left backs on the bench in the forms of Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the gaffer opted for youngster, Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Reviewing Myles Lewis-Skelly’s performance on the night
Football – 2024 / 2025 UEFA Champions League – League Stage – Matchday Four of Eight – Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk – Emirates Stadium – Tuesday 22nd October 2024. Arsenal s Myles Lewis-Skelly with Gabriel. Colorsport / Ashley Western PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK
In 23 minutes on the pitch, which is pretty much a cameo performance, Lewis-Skelly had 15 touches and fared really well in the inverted left back role with a passing accuracy of 100 percent. He won 50 percent of his ground duels, had a blocked shot and was fouled once.
This bodes well for the youngster this Sunday even though it would be a tough ask to plunge him into the deep end against a juggernaut like Mohamed Salah. With Calafiori picking up a potential knee injury, Arteta will need to make a huge decision on who would play left back against Liverpool.
“With Riccy it’s something different, he felt something, I don’t know the extent of that so in that sense it’s not great news.” – Mikel Arteta
Who will Arsenal start at left back against Liverpool?
Jurrien Timber, if fit, would have been the ideal option to replace Calafiori on the left but with William Saliba set to serve a one-match ban that would rule him out of the game against Liverpool, Timber might be asked to play alongside Gabriel, as Jakub Kiwior is unlikely to play after his manager subbed him off following his high-profile error in the 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Kiwior is also adept playing as a left back, but I firmly believe that his confidence has been shattered and it might take a while before we see him in action again, with the EFL Cup clash against Preston North End being the likeliest option.
Oleksandr Zinchenko would have been another option, but I still have very bad memories about how Salah skinned him alive when we visited Anfield last season. In addition to that, Zinchenko has not played competitive football since August and I don’t believe this would be a good entry point for him.
Our Swiss Army Knife, Takehiro Tomiyasu, is still plagued with injuries, and he recently suffered a set back, that would see him out of action for the considerable future.
That leaves us with Lewis-Skelly. Yes, he’s young, raw and inexperienced. However, he’s eager to impress and there’s no better game for him to strut his stuff than the Premier League leaders, Liverpool. I’d expect Gabriel to offer him some much-needed protection, but with the paucity of options available at Arsenal’s disposal, we might have to make do with him.
