Mikel Arteta shares what he honestly felt about Myles Lewis-Skelly’s display after dropping him this season

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Arsenal faced Olympiacos in their second Champions League game of the season, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was handed a rare start.

The teenager established himself as one of the Gunners’ best players last season, and many expected him to keep his place in the side this term.

However, Mikel Arteta has preferred Riccardo Calafiori over Lewis-Skelly in most games this campaign, and the Italian has fared well.

On Wednesday night, Lewis-Skelly made his second start of the season, and he impressed.

Mikel Arteta delivers verdict on Myles Lewis-Skelly’s performance for Arsenal vs Olympiacos

Myles Lewis-Skelly has had to be patient at Arsenal this season.

The England international was an unused substitute in the Gunners’ opening Champions League game, while he has played less than 70 minutes of football in the Premier League so far.

Arteta made it clear that Lewis-Skelly had done nothing wrong to be on the bench – it was just that Calafiori was performing better.

However, against Olympiacos, the 19-year-old reminded his manager that he is good enough to start games for the Gunners.

Arteta was asked for his thoughts on Lewis-Skelly’s performance. He said, as per Arsenal.com: “Very good. I think he played a really, really good game.

“Every level, defensively and attacking, and he looked really focused, he understood really well when to take chances, when to keep the game flowing and very simple.

“I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen today.”

Myles Lewis-Skelly’s stats vs Olympiacos are very impressive

Lewis-Skelly has definitely boosted his chances of more game time at Arsenal after his performance against Olympiacos.

The Arsenal Academy graduate had 78 touches of the ball and completed 41 of his 47 attempted passes, thus maintaining a very healthy 87 per cent passing accuracy.

Lewis-Skelly also created one big chance, but Gabriel Martinelli missed what looked like an absolute sitter in the opening minutes of the game.

Defensively, no Arsenal player won more duels (11), won more fouls (6) or made more tackles (3) than Lewis-Skelly against Olympiacos.

Sofascore rated the youngster 7.8/10 – only Martin Odegaard earned a higher score among the players who started the game.

These numbers explain why Arteta is really pleased with Lewis-Skelly’s display.