By Opta Analyst | Created at 2025-01-16 13:46:26 | Updated at 2025-01-16 17:03:17
3 hours ago
Arsenal overcame fierce rivals Tottenham in the north London derby on Wednesday, and no player on the pitch stood out more than the game’s youngest player: Myles Lewis-Skelly.
There was plenty of notable aspects to Myles Lewis-Skelly‘s performance against Tottenham on Wednesday.
The first was his age. At just 18 years and 111 days old, Lewis-Skelly became the second-youngest Arsenal player to start in a north London derby in the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Cesc Fàbregas, who started home and away as a 17-year-old during the 2004-05 campaign.
The second was his composure on the ball. In the cauldron of a derby, Lewis-Skelly misplaced just two passes all night, completing 30 of his 32 attempts (93.8%). Among those was a scything through ball to Raheem Sterling early on that the winger somehow failed to get on the end of.
Of players who started the game, only Declan Rice (32/34 – 94.1%) completed a higher percentage of his passes.
His calmness on the ball did not go unnoticed by Mikel Arteta. “It’s very rare to see an 18-year-old, playing against [Dejan] Kulusevski and [Brennan] Johnson, in a big London derby for the first time, to perform with that composure, with that attitude, with that control emotionally, it’s very rare to see,” the Arsenal manager said after the game.
But perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of his performance was his physicality. Up against Kulusevski, Spurs’ best dribbler, and later Johnson, one of their quickest players, Lewis-Skelly more than held his own.
Kulusevski attempted just two dribbles all game – only on one occasion in the Premier League this season (against Crystal Palace) has he attempted fewer in a game in which he started – and Johnson was rendered completely ineffective.
For someone still so young, it was impressive how strong and combative Lewis-Skelly was. He won five of his seven duels and three of his four tackles, including a crunching challenge on Pape Sarr at the start of the move that led to the corner from which Arsenal equalised.
It continued a theme of Lewis-Skelly’s robustness in his one-on-one duels. Remarkably, he leads all Premier League players this season for overall duel success rate (72.2%), albeit from just 331 minutes. But still, for someone of his age to be doing that is phenomenal.
It’s something that teammate Declan Rice pointed out when speaking to the media after Arsenal’s win: “The young boy Lewis-Skelly was unbelievable. For 18 years of age, to be playing how he is, it’s just ridiculous. He has that Mousa Dembélé type strength”.
That’s a big comparison. The former Spurs midfielder was famed his incredible press resistance in midfield, using his physical frame to bully and roll away from opponents. There are certainly some parallels in the way Lewis-Skelly uses his frame to position himself between man and ball, secures possession, and then uses a burst of acceleration to escape his marker.
What makes this all the more impressive is that Lewis-Skelly is not even playing in his natural position, with Arteta saying “he’s never played as a full-back before”. Like Dembélé, his best position is central midfield.
Having been eased into first-team action with several substitute appearances early on in the season, Lewis-Skelly has now started Arsenal’s last three matches against Newcastle (League Cup), Manchester United (FA Cup) and Tottenham (Premier League). While the team has had mixed fortunes in those games – and his ascension to the first team has undoubtedly been accelerated by Arsenal’s injury issues – his rapid rise to the top is a clear vote of confidence from Arteta.
His performance against Tottenham was without a doubt his best in an Arsenal shirt to date, and Arteta should have no concerns about him continuing to deputise at left-back. If he continues to develop at his current rate, with his blend of strength and technical skill, Arsenal could have a real gem on their hands.
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