Arsenal made short work of their EFL cup rivals Nottingham Forest when they beat them 4-0 at the City Stadium in the 3rd round of the EFL Cup. Last season, Arsene Wenger’s team were dumped out of the competition by Sheffield Wednesday who beat the Gunners convincingly by a 3-goal margin. The team looked fragile and lacking grit in that game but this time around the performance reflected a very significant change in the squad for Arsene Wenger and the fans.
Arsenal, now have the personnel who can inspire the team by taking control of situations along with having many options available for different positions as well. It is still early in the season but the performance was thoroughly professional, controlled and the visitors never looked like being in any kind of danger from their opposition or lacking any sort of confidence. On a night where the whole team performed well it is a bit hard and harsh as well to single out players but there were the youngsters who came across particularly impressive. Let’s look at three of those who excited the fans with their performances.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
The product of Arsenal’s Hale End academy, this 19-year old player is primarily a winger who was deployed as a right-back against Forest. To his credit, the England U-20 international was brilliant on the night playing like a player familiar in the position showing very good defensive as well as offensive skills. His passing was excellent and so was his timing of runs in the forward direction which gave away his winger instincts. After having spent last season on loan at Ipswich, Maitland-Niles showed signs of real maturity in the game and is a great prospect for the future.
Chuba Akpom
Akpom will very shortly, within days, be turning 21 now and is one of those young players at Arsenal who is entering that phase where he should be challenging for first team action. Arsene Wenger is well aware of the quality of the striker but on Tuesday night, Akpom showed his maturity playing as a left winger supporting Lucas Perez in the lone striker position.
The pair interchanged their positions very well during the game and with his pace, Akpom caused some problems in the Forest defence. He ended the game making a significant mark on the outcome after winning a penalty for the second goal and assisting the third one. Wenger now has a player capable of first team action in Akpom at his disposal just as the striker showed last night.
Jeff Reine- Adelaide
Adelaide was another player who impressed with his displays in the game. The 18-year old played as the playmaker in behind the striker utilizing possession very effectively and intelligently allowing the visitors to keep up the pressure always.
The former Lens midfielder is very confident on the ball who never hesitates to take his man on or show some nice little skills to get out of tight situations. Adelaide gave a commanding performance against Nottingham Forest and is someone on whom we will have our eyes on for the future.
