Arsenal’s stunning 3-2 comeback victory over AFC Bournemouth last weekend could very well be the catalyst that spearheads them to claiming Premier League glory at the end of the season.
The fight and resilience shown at the Emirates was the sign of champions and Mikel Arteta now finds his side five points clear of Manchester City.
Although the victory produced boisterous scenes at the Emirates, once the adrenaline had died down slightly, the Spaniard knows that his side have got to do better, especially defensively.
William Saliba has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.8 over his five previous Premier League appearances and was the man to lose Philip Billing for that opening goal against the Cherries after just nine seconds.
The club have conceded seven goals in that aforementioned five-game period and perhaps a bold change in defence is required ahead of the Europa League tie against Sporting CP this Thursday.
Arteta must rotate his side to prevent any staleness from setting in and it could be the ideal opportunity to give Jakub Kiwior his debut.
Will Jakub Kiwior start against Sporting in the Europa League?
The £58k-per-week ace was signed in January from Serie A side Spezia in a £20m deal in order to add some depth to the side ahead of a busy second half of the season, however, he has yet to play for the club.
He was in excellent form for Spezia during the first half of the campaign, making 1.4 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, and four clearances per game, while winning over half of his total duels and he ranked as the club’s seventh-best player in Serie A.
There is no doubting his credentials at the highest level, as the 23-year-old played in all four of Poland’s World Cup games in Qatar, ranking as the squad’s tenth-best player at the tournament as they exited to France in the last 16.
These performances of late have garnered plenty of praise, with talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbing him a “very positive surprise” while Fabrizio Romano stated that he was “untouchable” with those comments just proving that Arsenal have a very bright talent on their hands.
With league glory the priority for Arteta, a Europa League run is very much a bonus and this could give him the chance to play about with his squad, giving others a chance to impress.
Indeed, on Kiwior’s first outing for the Poland national team, he then immediately became a key cog in their backline, with sports journalist Michal Kruczkowski telling The Athletic “from his debut, he became the main player in the Poland defence.”
Therefore, Saliba and co better watch out. The ‘surprise’ defender could well become Arsenal’s mainstay very soon too.
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