- The Gunners were in breathtaking domestic form but lost out to Porto in the Champions League
- Mikel Arteta’s side went goal crazy, scoring four or more on three occasions
- Arsenal now firmly back in the Premier League title race after earning 12 points in February
The month of February was bloody fantastic for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, who shrugged off concerns over their goalscoring ability by finding the back of the net a whopping 18 times.
All of those goals came in the Premier League, leading the Gunners to a maximum 12-point return, though they did draw a blank away at Porto in the Champions League after a rather bizarre change of approach.
They were so bad in Portugal that they failed to register a shot in target – a statistic all the more bewildering considering they did nothing but attack against Liverpool, West Ham United, Burnley and Newcastle United.
Arsenal are front and centre of the Premier League title race as a result, and had a number of standout performers in February who helped take them to the next level.
Honourable mentions
It was a really decent month for Leandro Trossard and Jorginho, who outside of anonymous showings against Porto, showed just how valuable they are to Arsenal.
The latter even scooped 90min’s player of the match awards against Liverpool and Newcastle, with his average rating for the month only brought down by a short cameo away at Burnley.
5. Martin Odegaard
Appearances: 5Average rating: 7.2 (6,9,9,5,7)Player of the Match: 0Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard hasn’t hit the goalscoring heights of last season (15 Premier League goals with no penalties) but he put in a couple of outstanding displays in February.In particular, the Norwegian was at his brilliant best as Arsenal dismantled West Ham at London Stadium, before repeating the trick six days later as Burnley were terrorised at Turf Moor.
4. Gabriel
Appearances: 5Average rating: 7.2 (7,9,8,5,9)Player of the Match: 0William Saliba has been labelled the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of Arsenal’s defence, but it’s partner Gabriel who really stood out in February.Minus an ineffectual display against Porto – where every Gunners player bar one struggled – the Brazilian was superb, particularly impressing against West Ham and Newcastle.
3. Kai Havertz
Appearances: 5Average rating: 7.4 (7,7,8,6,9)Player of the Match: 0The longstanding criticism of Kai Havertz is that he doesn’t score enough goals and doesn’t offer Arsenal enough in midfield.Importantly, the German has the backing of Arteta, and judging by his February displays he’s likely to have a crucial role to play between now and the end of the season.Havertz scored twice in February, against Burnley and Newcastle, and was also very effective against Liverpool.
2. Bukayo Saka
Appearances: 5Average rating: 7.8 (7, 9, 9, 5, 9)Player of the Match: 1It’s true Kurt Angle is the only Olympic gold medalist (with a broken freakin’ neck, anyway) in WWE history and it’s true Bukayo Saka is in the form of his life right now.The 22-year-old has scored seven goals in his five Premier League games, and he turned in three 9/10 performances in a fabulous February. In any other month, Saka would definitely have been Arsenal’s standout performer, but on this occasion…
1. Declan Rice
Appearances: 5Average rating: 8.4 (8,10,8,7,9)Player of the Match: 2…he’s been outshone by the sensational Declan Rice.Signed for £105m, a record fee for a British player, Rice had a lot to prove at the Emirates Stadium (with many saying he wasn’t up to it because he hadn’t played Champions League football), yet he’s somehow now looking like a bit of a bargain.Rice was colossal in all five of Arsenal’s games in February – he was the only player to stamp any kind of authority on Porto – and deservedly picked up two of 90min’s player of the match awards.His real standout display was at West Ham, where he scored a stupendous long-range goal to rub excessive amounts of salt into some very open East End wounds.
