Arsenal: Nicolas Pepe is going to be a stone cold stunner

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal didn’t put it all together against Liverpool, and despite Nicolas Pepe’s miss, he proved just how good he is, and will continue to be.

Despite the 3-1 scoreline, Arsenal really weren’t that bad against Liverpool. A stupid mistake from the defense (no waaaaaay!) gave the game away early in the second half, but in the first half, arguably the two best chances fell to the Gunners, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe unable to take their chances.

Pepe was getting harangued for his miss, and to be fair, it was a poor effort, but in the mean time, Pepe proved himself to be the quintessential attacking threat we’ve needed for years from wide.

Flanking Aubameyang’s right, Pepe was the biggest threat to the Liverpool back two all match long. I’m sure everyone saw the stat that he was the first attacker to dribble around Virgil van Dijk in fifty matches. But that was just one dribble.

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On the day, Pepe completed seven, which is more than the Gunners have seen completed in a competitive match since Bukayo Saka did it in the Europa League last year, and the last time it happened in the Premier League was…

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A long time ago.

He also completed 92% of his passes, the highest of any starter except Sokratis. That is some mighty impressive stuff for a debut against Liverpool, and it absolutely undoes the one miss that could have been a goal, even if that one goal would have changed the face of the match. His work outside of that missed shot changed the face of the game too.

His direct style of play is what initially got us so excited about Alex Iwobi, but the difference is that Pepe is a honed product that has the feet to make mincemeat of midfielders and defenders alike, and it doesn’t matter how close to the box he gets. He still has those feet and that flash and bang that can see him past opposing players. Even the likes of van Dijk.

And he’s fast too. This is such a fast attack and I love that he is just our newest weapons.

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The result didn’t go our way, but I am thrilled by his performance because it was only his first of many. And like I said, it’s not like this result was a typical whooping. This was the best team in the league at Anfield and we had admirable fight throughout.