It’s been an incredible week to be an Arsenal fan.
On Sunday, Mikel Arteta’s side demolished Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
And then, if that wasn’t enough, the Gunners brushed aside the excellent Bayern Munich to go top of the Champions League table.
There were sensational performances across the pitch for Arsenal, including from someone who is becoming something of a hybrid between Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka.
Eze & Saka's performances vs Bayern
While the likes of Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber are getting most of the praise following Wednesday night, and rightly so, Saka also put in a performance to be proud of.
Now, it’s true that he didn’t get on the scoresheet himself, but he did provide the assist for the opening goal and was a constant threat throughout his time on the pitch.
At certain points, he had to deal with three Bayern players on his own, but still managed to create two big chances, complete three of four crosses, take one shot on target and recover the ball twice.
It’s clear that the Hale End superstar is still not quite at his very best, but even without a goal to his name, he’s impacting games in a big way.
Likewise, Eze didn’t score a fourth goal in two games, but once again showed why he is one of the best number tens around against the German giants.
It was just before the visitors scored that he helped create a chance with some tidy footwork, only for him to just overhit the pass into Saka.
Then in the second half, every time he had the ball at his feet, he was looking to do something positive.
It was this mindset that saw him play an excellent ball over the top for Gabriel Martinelli to knock around Manuel Neuer and secure all three points.
Overall, Saka and Eze weren’t necessarily the best players on the pitch against Bayern, but they put in strong performances, and now it looks like Arsenal have a player who is becoming a hybrid of both.
Arsenal's Saka & Eze hybrid
With Saka undoubtedly being Arsenal’s most important player and Eze proving to be one of their best signings from the summer, a player would have to be pretty special to be described as a hybrid of the two.
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Fortunately, despite certain sections of the fanbase clearly thinking otherwise in the summer, Noni Madueke has proven himself to be just that.
Now, nobody is saying the former Chelsea ace is as good as his compatriots, but he certainly shares some similarities with them.
For example, like the former Palace star, he is someone who can make something happen from nothing.
Granted, that hasn’t necessarily translated into a goal or assist this season, but he is such a direct attacker that, with the ball at his feet, he can make opposition defenders panic.
Moreover, like the 27-year-old, given his ability to make something of nothing, Arteta seems to have given him more freedom to try things on the ball.
Arsenal writer Adam Keys perhaps put it best when, after his goal against Bayern, he described the 23-year-old as an “agent of chaos,” which is just the sort of player the North Londoners have been missing in recent years.
Expected Assists
0.26
0.27
Progressive Passes Received
12.9
12.4
Key Passes
2.29
2.21
Live Passes
32.9
33.5
Tackles Won
0.57
0.58
Successful Take-On %
42.1%
40.5%
Carries
26.9
29.5
Now, when it comes to Saka, the similarities come down to their left-footedness, their close control, and the fact that FBref ranked the Hale Ender as the sixth-most similar attacking midfielder or winger to Madueke in Europe’s top five leagues.
The best way to understand how they came to this conclusion is to look at the underlying metrics they rank closely in, metrics like expected assists, key passes, tackles won, successful take-on percentage and more, all per 90.
Ultimately, while his signing was not universally celebrated across the fanbase, Madueke has proven himself to be a more than useful player for Arsenal, and the fact that he shares so many traits with Saka and Eze can only be a good thing.
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