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Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison has heaped praise on Arsenal attacker Bukayo Saka for his improved ability to bamboozle defenders. The 23-year-old is off to a flying start to the season.
One of the key players in Mikel Arteta's squad, Saka has registered three goals and seven assists in 10 games across competitions. Most of those goal contributions - two goals and all seven assists - have come in seven games in the Premier League, where the Gunners are third.
The Englishman produced a rousing performance in his side's most recent league outing - a 3-1 home win over Southampton - where Bukayo Saka had a hand in all three goals, scoring one.
Waxing lyrical about the league's leading assist-provider this season, Hutchison said on the Gab and Juls Show (via TBR):
“It’s Saka. He’s the man; isn’t he? There is not one flaw in his game. There’s no flaw in his game. He’s durable. He gets stuck in. He limps off with five minutes to go in a game, but he’s fit for the next one.
“What he has now, which is really impressive for a young player, he’s started to go on the outside, instead of cutting inside all of the time, he goes to chop on his right foot, and now defenders are thinking which way will he go.”
In the aforementioned Saints game, Bukayo Saka assisted Kai Havertz's 58th-minute equaliser. He then set up Gabriel Martinelli's strike 10 minutes later before getting on the scoresheet himself two minutes from time.
Bukayo Saka's Arsenal manager commends team for 'exceptional' start against Southampton
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has hailed his team for their performance in the Southampton win. The Gunners had dominated proceedings in a goalless first half at the Emirates before the Saints took a surprise 55th-minute lead through Cameron Archer.
However, Arteta's side provided a swift response, with Havertz restoring parity within three minutes before Martinelli and Saka also struck as the Gunners joined Manchester United as the only teams to register 400 Premier League wins.
"The start was exceptional, the dominance, the chances," Arteta told BBC Sport. "It was unbelievable not to go one, two, three goals up. We conceded the goal, and then it was game on.
"I thought the team reacted with a lot of authority, and I am happy the team can react like this - but not happy after the chances we had that we had to go through that."
Bukayo Saka and Co. are now unbeaten in 16 games across competitions, trailing Premier League leaders Liverpool (18) by a point going into the international break. Arsenal - along with four-time defending champions Manchester City - are the only two unbeaten teams in the league after seven games.
