'Absolutely fantastic': Jamie Carragher praises £42m Arsenal star who won 100% aerials vs Aston Villa
Liverpool legend-turned-pundit Jamie Carragher heaped praise on Arsenal left-back Riccardo Calafiori following the 1-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa on the road.
The Gunners cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry City in the curtain-raiser, but they had to work hard for three points against the Villans.
Arsenal had a difficult record at Villa Park with four losses in the last seven trips, but managed to come on top with Bukayo Saka scoring the only goal shortly before the hour mark.
Calafiori provided the assist to continue his bright start to the campaign. The Italian star was played through by Eberechi Eze. He put the ball on the plate for Saka to score.
Speaking after the game, Carragher said that Arsenal’s great organisation has allowed their full-backs to be so adventurous. He added that Calafiori was ‘absolutely fantastic’ and he is the ‘best left-back in the league’ at the moment.
He told Sky Sports: “What Arsenal do have is great organisation behind the ball, which lets their full-backs be so adventurous.
“The way Mikel Arteta deals with them and the license he gives them is so good. The constant rotation of movement is something that we don’t see any other team in the league do.
“It feels like Riccardo Calafiori is the best left-back in the league at the moment. He’s absolutely fantastic.”
Calafiori has started the season in phenomenal fashion
Calafiori has had a brilliant start to the season with the Gunners. He opened the scoring after just 24 seconds in the Community Shield win over Manchester City.
The 24-year-old provided the assist for Kai Havertz’s opener against Coventry and repeated the feat to break the deadlock against a stubborn Villa outfit yesterday.
Aside from his goal contribution at Villa Park, Calafiori completed 90 percent of his passes. He won five duels against the Midlands outfit with a 100 percent aerial success rate (3/3).
The £42 million signing also made four recoveries for the reigning champions. Calafiori is undoubtedly Arsenal’s premier left-back when fit, and hopefully he can stay unscathed this term.
Arsenal have a huge London derby against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Blues have been superb under new manager Xabi Alonso with two wins to start the campaign, and it could represent the Gunners’ biggest challenge yet this season.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
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