Arsenal player ratings: Bukayo Saka shines in opening day win but Oleksandr Zinchenko could lose place after Wolves show

ARSENAL stormed to a 2-0 victory over Wolves in their Premier League season opener at the Emirates.

Bukayo Saka‘s brilliant 74th minute strike put the Gunners back in control after Kai Havertz opened the scoring inside 25 minutes.

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Kai Havertz put Arsenal 1-0 up inside 25 minutes[/caption]

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Bukayo Saka’s sublime strike up the Gunners in cruise control[/caption]

Havertz put Arsenal‘s first Prem goal of the season with a clever close range header after a Saka assist.

Before finding himself on the wrong side of a tussle with Yerson Mosquera in the second-half.

Wolves were enjoying a good spell of pressure but Saka brought the Emirates to its feet with a fine curling finish from 15 yards.

Here is how SunSport’s Isabelle Barker rated the Gunners display.

David Raya – 8

Produced a jaw-dropping save in the opening-half on an awkward Jorgen Strand Larsen header.

Saved Saliba’s skins late on when he nearly produced a monumental cock-up by passing the ball straight to Cunha. 

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Ben White got a new hair do ahead of the new Prem season[/caption]

Ben White – 7

White wanted a goal so bad, had two shots in the opening half and was linking the play well. 

Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6

Put the Gunners under pressure at times to highlight why the club signed Riccardo Calafiori in the summer. 

The Ukrainian left-back also looked weak defensively.

With the return of Jurrien Timber, Zinchenko could see himself out of the starting XI.

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Zinchenko failed to impress during Arsenal’s win[/caption]

Gabriel – 7

Was mostly rock solid at the back and was more reliable than Saliba but still made a few questionable tackles.

William Saliba – 6

Was the culprit of a number of poor passes.

Had a disastrous spell which gifted Wolves a chance, forcing Raya into that blinding save in the first-half.

He then passed the ball straight to Matheus Cunha who so very nearly equalised in the second-half. 

Martin Odegaard – 7

A joy to watch in the first-half but needed to sharpen up in the second-half. Held onto the ball for too long doing flicks and tricks which put Arsenal under the cosh. 

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Martin Odegaard led Arsenal to their first win of the new season[/caption]

Thomas Partey – 7

Solid display, buzzed about all over the pitch and was neat and tidy with his distribution.

Nearly made it 2-0 in the second-half with a rasping, low shot. 

Declan Rice – 6

Had little influence throughout the game and came off injured on 84-minutes. 

Bukayo Saka – 9

The opener was all about the cross from Saka.

It was an inch-perfect, in-swinging cross into the box, the keeper couldn’t come for it, the defenders didn’t want to knock it into their own net, and Havertz took full advantage. 

He wrapped up a perfect performance by firing a rocket into the top corner to make it 2-0. 

Kai Havertz – 8

His opener had been brewing for a while when he produced a crisp finish on 25 minutes. He has now scored 10 goals in his last 15 Premier League games. Scuppered a golden chance early in the second-half though. 

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Havertz was hit in the face by Yerson Mosquera leaving Arsenal fans fuming[/caption]

Gabriel Martinelli – 7

Solid performance but was wasteful and selfish when he could have laid the ball back to Declan Rice when he was wide open. 

Subs

JURRIEN TIMBER – 7

GABRIEL JESUS – 7

LEANDRO TROSSARD – 7

Arsenal have a tricky start to the season