Mikel Arteta called Myles Lewis-Skelly into action at half-time against Chelsea, but the Arsenal defender failed to make an impact.
It’s been a really tough season for Lewis-Skelly, whose luck didn’t take a positive turn on matchday 13 when Arsenal drew 1-1 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
At long last, the academy graduate was given minutes to impress in the Premier League, replacing Riccardo Calafiori at half-time due to the Italian being on a yellow card.
Unfortunately, when the chance was there to make a difference, Lewis-Skelly, like the Arsenal squad, fluffed his lines.
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Myles Lewis-Skelly only won two duels against Chelsea, and Mikel Arteta will be furious
It was a second consecutive poor performance from the teenager in the space of a week.
Lewis-Skelly was poor against Bayern Munich and, regrettably, was even worse at Stamford Bridge.
There was one element of the 19-year-old’s game that would’ve stood out above the rest in Arteta’s eyes, and that was his poor rate of winning duels.
| Myles Lewis-Skelly vs Chelsea |
| 28 touches |
| 1 interception |
| 1 clearance |
| 28% duel wins |
| 1 foul |
| 95% pass completion |
As the stats reveal, Lewis-Skelly won just 28% of his duels against Chelsea, losing five of them in the derby.
Such would’ve infuriated the Arsenal manager like nothing else, as Arteta hates it when his players lose duels.
Duel-winning has been one of Arsenal’s biggest strengths this season, making them a team that is so hard to beat, but against Chelsea, Lewis-Skelly was unable to maintain the standards.
Arsenal fans were not impressed with Lewis-Skelly
It was a dreary cameo from Lewis-Skelly, and one that Arsenal fans were eager to comment on.
On X, reaction to the teenager’s performance came flooding in, with supporters clearly unsatisfied with what they saw.
“Lewis-Skelly, what an awful shift. How are we so open,” one supporter said.
Another fan added, “Lewis-Skelly was so poor after he came on. He is one player who is fit and fresh, expected a lot more from him.”
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One user dubbed the defender’s performance as ‘absolutely shocking’.
“Lewis-Skelly was absolutely shocking when he came on. Not sure what’s going on with him recently.”
Some fans were eager to comment on the Englishman’s body language, speculating how much effort he put into his display.
“The Lewis-Skelly substitution was pointless. It was as good as playing 10 men with Chelsea. Zero impact and effort.”
A fellow Arsenal fan agreed, “Myles Lewis-Skelly with an embarrassing performance. He didn’t want to be out there, genuinely.”
It was an outing to forget for the Hale End graduate, who needs to improve if he is to turn his season around.
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