Arsenal player ratings: 'Unstoppable' 9/10 dazzles as 'rusty' defender lands 5/10 in Wolves win
We rate the players from Arsenal’s opening day Premier League win over Wolves at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal made no mistake in their Premier League opener, seeing off Wolves with a win and a clean sheet. Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka saw Mikel Arteta’s men get the best of Gary O’Neil’s men.
The Gunners took the lead after 25 minutes when Saka delivered a curling ball into the box, allowing Havertz to rise and flick the ball home with a glancing header. Saka then turned scorer in the second half, cutting inside and finding the net with a rasping near post effort in the 73rd minute.
Arsenal are off the mark for the season, and here we rate the players from a successful opening day at the Emirates Stadium.
David Raya - 8
Pulled off a world-class save to deny a Wolves header on the 35-minute mark. Made a good stop right at the death, too. The Spaniard didn’t have an awful lot to do but did what Arsenal needed from him. That first-half save proved instrumental.
Ben White - 7
Wolves’ danger largely came down the other side, which was perhaps a reflection of a strong performance from White, but he didn’t have all that much to do. Didn’t put a foot wrong, though.
William Saliba - 5
Pretty solid. He and Gabriel will grow into the season, but Saliba was rusty here. He away a big chance with a poor pass in the 67th minute and was lucky not to be punished. Saliba needs to sharpen up. But that is to be expected in pre-season, and he gets some help here due to that caveat.
Gabriel Magalhaes - 6
The odd stray pass but was generally solid. He and Saliba will likely rekindle their fine partnership with more game competitive time.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (Off at 67’) - 7
Frustrated Hee-Chan for the most part with strong positional play and resisting diving in. Worked very hard down that left-hand side and was brought off after 67 minutes.
Thomas Partey - 8
Cleared up nicely in front of the defence on a number of occasions. Should have been better on the ball at times, but his awareness bailed out the Gunners defensively. His quick thinking for a free-kick also paved the way for the second goal.
Declan Rice (Off at 84’) - 7
As solid as ever on the ball. Set a number of nice transitions on their way. Rice wasn’t as busy as he usually is, but Partey helped by hovering deep and protecting the back line. Concerningly, he picked up an injury with six minutes to go, but it did not look too serious.
Martin Odegaard - 6
Came close with a lovely long distance effort just on the stroke of the 70th minute. Odegaard didn’t get too involved in this one, with Wolves doing well to crowd the areas in between the lines that the Norwegian usually operates within. But Odegaard was steady on the ball.
Bukayo Saka (Off at 80’) - 9
Lively from the off. Came close with an early effort then curled in a superb ball for the opener after 25 minutes. He gave Wolves nightmares cutting inside but the visitors did adapt in the second half, snuffing him out on the inside until the 73rd minute, when the winger cut inside again, this time with more success. He showed great feet before smashing one into the near post to open his account for the season. Saka was unstoppable at times.
Gabriel Marinelli - 5
A quiet first half, at least compared to Saka, and he wasn’t much more involved in the second. A very quiet game from Martinelli on the whole, and it was surprising that Arteta did not replace him. Perhaps Arteta recognised that the Brazilian needs more minutes to get sharp.
Kai Havertz - 8
Lively early on but a little rushed in his execution. Settled down nicely after timing his run perfectly to head home the opener 25 minutes in. Should have done better with a chance just after the break but made up for it by showing his importance in the build-up, bringing the ball under his spell and finding Saka. The winger still had a lot to do, but Havertz played a key role. The German rushed a couple of half chances, but that is to be expected on the opening day.
Jurrien Timber (On at 67’) - 6
Didn’t have an awful lot to do but did his job.
Leandro Trossard (On at 80’) - 6
The game was over by the time Trossard came on, and while Arsenal pushed ahead a little, they didn’t need to stretch themselves going forward. There wasn’t much for Trossard to do.
Gabriel Jesus (On at 84’) - 6
Simply not enough time to impact the game, with Arsenal already wrapping up the win.