Arsenal youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have both made more appearances for Mikel Arteta’s first team than the academy sides this season, despite being just 18 and 17 years old respectively.
Lewis-Skelly made a start against Bolton and sub appearances against Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Shakhtar Donetsk, whilst Nwaneri also started against Bolton and came off the bench against Spurs, Leicester City, and Bournemouth.
Lewis-Skelly made a couple of appearances for the u21s in August, but both players have exclusively been with the senior side since then.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Arsenal’s match against Liverpool, Arteta suggested that the reason for that is that both players are now members of the senior squad.
“They are there, you know, they are in contention (to face Liverpool),” Arteta said. “They’re always giving us the option and the possibility to start the game.
“Myles came on the other night and he did really well, Ethan the same. So they’re first-team players, they’re with us and we treat them and we value in the same way as any other player.”
When asked whether Arteta would be afraid to use the teenagers against Liverpool, he answered simply: “No. Well, we did it in a Champions League game the other day, so…”
Nwaneri has perhaps made more headlines, given his two goals against Bolton and Arsenal’s pressing need for midfield creativity and goalscoring threat.
But Lewis-Skelly could be the more likely to make an appearance this weekend, with Arsenal now low on left-back options.
Ideally, Jurrien Timber would be available to play that side and help to cover the dangers presented by Mohamed Salah’s left foot. But if he’s out, Arteta’s alternatives are limited.
Even if Oleksandr Zinchenko starts, it would be his first game after injury. He might need to come off early, which would give Lewis-Skelly a shot at an appearance.
