Arsenal faced Everton on Saturday evening in what was a must-win affair for the Gunners.
For the first time in a while, Arsenal headed into this match second in the table after Manchester City beat West Ham United earlier in the day.
Arsenal needed a result to re-establish their Premier League dominance, and they duly delivered.
There were numerous standout performers on the day, but there were also numerous players who particularly stood out in their respective roles.
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty ImagesBukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber are incredible together
During the game against Everton, it was clearly showcased just how well Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber operate together.
For a long time, Ben White and Saka were hailed for their understanding of one another, but in the Everton game, Timber may have usurped White in the role of Saka’s sidekick.
Alan Smith made such a point during his commentary on Sky Sports.
What is your favourite partnership at Arsenal?
Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber are quite the pairing!
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“That partnership you know between Saka and Timber, I thought Saka and Ben White had a good relationship, but this one might be even better, they linked up plenty of times tonight to decent effect,” Smith said.
Interestingly, Saka and Timber weren’t the only brilliant partnership on show at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie look brilliant
Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie look to complement one another very well in this Arsenal defence.
Arsenal’s defensive acumen has defined their relative success in recent years under Mikel Arteta.
For the longest time, the talk of the town has been the partnership between William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, but, Hincapie and Calafiori are showing early signs of complementing one another brilliantly.
Both men are hyper-aggressive left-footed defenders who aren’t afraid to showcase their flair on the ball, and that was evident in the game against Everton.
In the early knockings of the game, Calafiori and Hincapie effortlessly exchanged a one-two of headers to snuff out a dangerous situation, playing around the oncoming Everton attackers with ease.
What do you make of Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori’s partnership?
Early thoughts: Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie complement each other in a strange way, Calafiori is able to push incredibly high and Hincapie can cover the left-back slot when he does
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However, it’s what happened in the very first minute of the game that showcased why these two work so well together.
Riccardo Calafiori took a bump early in this match that left him on the floor for a few seconds, and while it was only momentary, Hincapie instinctively knew how to deal with being one man light in that moment.
Hincapie went out to left-back to cover the space left by Calafiori, while, upon getting back to his feet, Calafiori went and played centre-half for a few minutes, before both players naturally switched back when an opportunity presented itself.
The fact that Arsenal have two players who are so comfortable at both left-back and centre-back allows for that sort of interchanging, and that allows for fresh tactical ideas, different approaches and more unpredictability.
This Arsenal side is all about partnerships, be it Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi, Saliba and Gabriel or, at times, Ben White and Bukayo Saka, and now, Mikel Arteta may have found two more brilliant pairings in his team.
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