Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Lille: Rotated Gunners Extend Brilliant League Phase Record

Arsenal’s outstanding Champions League home record under Mikel Arteta continued on Tuesday evening, as three second-half goals saw the Gunners ease past Lille 3–0.

Arteta’s men thus followed up their victory in Naples with another triumph, as they aim to avoid two extra matches in the new year by finishing inside the top eight of the league phase table.

Lille had been relatively comfortable in the opening hour, with a varied approach in possession limiting the damage a rotated Arsenal could inflict with their press. However, the Gunners slowly turned the screw after an uninspired first half, and Jurriën Timber’s smart finish proved to be the spark a frustrated Emirates crowd sorely needed.

Arteta subsequently pivoted to Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard as part of a triple-change, and the former teed up Eberechi Eze for Arsenal’s second almost immediately after his introduction. Saka then got on the scoresheet himself as the hosts threatened a walkover, but Lille were at least able to prevent Arsenal from running up the score in the closing stages.

One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Arsenal are far better when Viktor Gyökeres isn’t on the field. | John Walton/PA Images/Getty Images

“The happiest thing, the thing we can do to be the happiest, is to win football matches. That’s the best medicine for everybody,” Arteta asserted in the build-up to Lille’s visit, explaining how the Gunners will overcome their heartbreak in Budapest.

There has been only one blip in Arsenal’s season to date, but the boss cannot be overly pleased with his side’s level of performance on either side of the extended international break. At the moment, the Gunners are delivering in spurts, but that’s been enough in back-to-back games.

Once again, those in reserve huffed and puffed their way through proceedings, struggling to assert themselves in the contest and hardly instilling fear in those above them in the pecking order. Viktor Gyökeres was anonymous, and we can’t exactly say the Swede is desperate for a goal. He scored four for his country during the recent break.

Timber’s strike broke the shackles and forced a relatively comfortable but increasingly frail Lille, boasting the joint-best defensive record in Ligue 1, to change tack slightly. However, the visitors ultimately succumbed to a Gunners outfit that drastically improved once Arteta made changes that were planned before Timber’s opener.

From then on, it was a familiar Champions League night for the Emirates faithful since Arteta guided the club back into Europe’s premier club competition three years ago. Still, the Spaniard won’t be overly thrilled with the level shown by a tinkered attack for an hour.

Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Lille (4-2-3-1)

Gabriel faced off against his former club. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: David Raya—6.7: Rarely is Arsenal’s No. 1 tested on such occasions, and it was more of the same here.

RB: Jurrïen Timber—8.6: Timber was keen to contribute going forward all night, and his perseverance paid off by opening the scoring with a cultured touch and finish.

CB: Ezri Konsa—7.4: A night of few issues for Konsa, who wasn’t tested by an imbalanced and lightweight Lille attack.

CB: Gabriel—6.7: Gabriel made a superb block to deny Dilane Bakwa early on, and it seemed as if Arsenal would at least be put to the test by the visitors in transition. However, that was as good as it got for Ancelotti’s side.

LB: Myles Lewis-Skelly—7.8: Back to where it all began in the senior team, Lewis-Skelly wasn’t troubled all that much despite Bakwa’s bright start, and he was a threat in the final third toward the end of the first half.

CM: Declan Rice—7.7: Nothing spectacular from Arsenal’s captain on the night, who went about his work without fuss.

CM: Bruno Guimarães—8.2: Probed unrelentingly, especially at the start of the second half, and he looked like making something happen. Had a couple of shots on goal, too.

RW: Noni Madueke—7.8: Offered plenty of threat and dominated his duel one-on-one with former Southampton defender Romain Perraud. The combination with Timber eventually bore fruit, but he’d be much better off if he looked up before he delivered into the box.

AM: Mikel Merino—6.6: Merino earned a rare start, but he was no Martin Ødegaard. The Spaniard offers something completely different, and he should’ve headed Arsenal into a first-half lead.

LW: Eberechi Eze—8.7: It had been another awkward showing from Eze down the left before he got his goal amid Arsenal’s burst after the hour.

ST: Viktor Gyökeres—6.5: This was a characteristically clumsy and clunky performance from Arsenal’s No. 14, who didn’t have a sniff of Lille’s goal before he was hooked after Timber’s goal.

SUB: Kai Havertz (63’ for Gyökeres)—7.4: Turned Arsenal into a far more formidable pressing team and teed up Saka’s goal.

SUB: Bukayo Saka (63’ for Madueke)—8.0: Exploited the space Lille surrendered after Timber’s goal, delivering the goods off the bench.

SUB: Martin Ødegaard (63’ for Merino)—6.8: There were a few divine sequences from the skipper.

SUB: Ben White (78’ for Timber)—5.7: Offered one or two forward forays.

SUB: Max Dowman (85’ for Eze)—N/A

Subs not used: Illan Meslier (GK), Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK), Cristhian Mosquera, Marli Salmon, Riccardo Calafiori, Maalik Hashi Ceadach O’Neill.

What the Ratings Tell Us

Jurrïen Timber — Timber is working his way into the season. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

There was more than an hour’s worth of evidence as to why Mikel Merino is generally limited to the role of ‘super sub.’ The clutch Spaniard has a knack for being in the right place at the right time late in matches, but ask him to play from the outset, and his drawbacks become clear. Instead of facilitating from a No. 10 position, Merino was responsible for slowing attacks and disrupting his side’s flow.
This was a valuable outing for Jurrïen Timber, who was the unlikely source of Arsenal’s opening goal. The Dutchman, who missed the World Cup due to injury in the summer, has been eased into the new season, making his first appearance at Sunderland last month. His minutes were managed by Xavi Hernández during the break, and he was deemed ready for a start on Tuesday. While Ben White has an excellent relationship with Saka and Ødegaard down Arsenal’s right, Timber is the steely presence in the Gunners’ defense that Arteta adores.

The Numbers That Explain Arsenal’s Eventual Cruise

Arsenal have now won 14 straight league phase matches in this competition.
The Gunners are yet to find their mojo from set pieces this season, and they struggled without Saka’s delivery here. Arsenal had seven corners, but notched just 0.03 xG from set plays.
Lille may have been comfortable for an hour, but they offered very little threat. In a match with few big chances, the visitors failed to register a single shot on target. Arsenal’s defense has shut out superior attacks.

Statistic	Arsenal	Lille
Possession	58%	42%
Expected Goals (xG)	1.85	0.38
Total Shots	16	4
Shots on Target	8	0
Big Chances	1	0
Pass Accuracy	90%	85%
Fouls Committed	13	9
Corners	7	0

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