‘Saka is a great talent… he’s going to get better'

Bukayo Saka scored his first goal at under-23 level on Friday as we cruised to a 4-0 win over Liverpool.

The 17-year-old had made a series of impressive substitute appearances prior to this fixture, but for the first time this season, Freddie Ljungberg opted to start him on the left wing.

“Bukayo is a great talent and played very, very well today,” Ljungberg told Arsenal Player.

“We’ve given him 15 minutes here and 20 minutes there to help him get used to the tempo, the speed and strength of opponents, and he’s taken it in his stride.  He’s just going to get better and better, keep his head down and keep on working.

“We won 4-0 and if you look at the clear-cut chances then it could have maybe been seven or eight nil, so that’s the only downside. We need to get better at our finishing, but as a coach I can’t be disappointed. I must be very happy.”

Eddie Nketiah and Daniel Ballard also delivered professional performances, as two of the more established members of the under-23 side.

“It’s not just about going forwards - we have to defend as well and we did that well today,” Ljungberg added. “Danny is a very good defender and him doing that (goal-line clearance) is great. It helped his team and we scored a goal right at the end.

“As for Nketiah, he’s very rapid in his movement, he’s quick, and he has that little turn that he can do quickly so that he can get a sniper shot away. He’s a very, very good player.”