Arsenal’s most improved player of the season is clear and it's not Viktor Gyökeres

Ahead of Saturday's clash with Hull City, setting their embarrassing EFL Cup exit aside, the start to this season could hardly have gone much better for Arsenal. The Gunners now have ten points from four Champions League matches, following Wednesday's win over Slavia Prague on the road.

Meantime, in the Premier League, having won at Anfield for the first time in 14 years, victory over Hull City will see Mikel Arteta's team reach 27 points after ten matches. Setting aside a certain pariah sham club, they are five points clear of nearest challengers Brighton.

The usual suspects are earning most of the plaudits, including Gabriel, David Raya and Declan Rice, as well as new signing Ezri Konsa, who has slotted in seamlessly. Nevertheless, most would agree that the title of Arsenal's most improved player so far this season has to go to Noni Madueke.

The Gunners two most criticised players were the scorers in the Czech capital this week. After only eight minutes, it was Viktor Gyökeres' hooked through ball that played in Madueke to score, before the Swede majestically lashed home the second, his shot thwacking the post en route to the net.

This was only Gyökeres' second goal of the season, the other a very scruffy finish at Fleetwood. While the striker has proved his worth, he has done very little to dissuade Arteta from deploying Kai Havertz in the matches that really matter.

Madueke, on the other hand, has taken his opportunities to shine. With Bukayo Saka still sidelined for a few weeks, after suffering a quad injury against Bayern Munich, the understudy will remain in the spotlight for another few weeks at least. A year ago, that may have been cause for concern, but Madueke continues to prove his worth.

Wednesday took his tally to three goals for the season so far, having fired home against Ipswich in the Carabao Cup, as well as, far more crucially, lashing in the late winner at Nottingham Forest.

It was also Madueke's back post cross that found Benjamin White, who knocked down for Riccardo Calafiori, to find the equaliser when Arsenal were in a tricky predicament against Leeds. Undeniably, Madueke remains a frustrating player. His decision making is often not the best, but one cannot question his talent nor his persistence to try, try and try again.

Against Lille, for example, the England international put in 15 crosses, the majority of which came to nothing, but it was eventually his assist that broke the deadlock, even if most of the credit has to go to scorer Jurriën Timber.

Well, Saturday's clash with Hull provides Madueke with another platform to show what he is capable of and, having not been included in Thomas Tuchel's England squad, he will be refreshed and raring to go against Newcastle in a fortnight.

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