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A largely forgotten Arsenal combination was on show in the Carabao Cup win over Chelsea with the impact on Bukayo Saka potentially huge
Arsenal's second goal in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea was a trademark goal from 2023 that could have an impact on Mikel Arteta. The Gunners beat their London rivals 3-2 and while there are questions marks over the defensive display, Arteta's side were at their attacking best with Viktor Gyokeres' strike proof of that.
As Bukayo Saka jostled with Marc Cucurella for possession, an unfamiliar sight appeared to his right. That was an overlapping Ben White and though his cross was tame, Gyokeres was finally in between the posts to take advantage of Robert Sanchez's mistake as he swept home on the line.
The Sweden international later assisted Martin Zubimendi's goal with Arteta delighted by his contributions at Stamford Bridge.
On Gyokeres' insistence finally paying off, he said: "Yes, for a lot of the things that he's done, it's exactly the same. I think he had a really good performance. Overall, I think what he brings to the team. It's a lot, sometimes I understand that people cannot appreciate it, we certainly do that and on top of that he got rewarded with a goal."
While much of the post-match was about Gyokeres' performance, the performance from White, which also included a goal, cannot go unnoticed. During their title push in the 2023/24 season, White was hugely influential in the attacking third with his deliveries from right-back leading to five assists.
Goals also arrived for the 28-year-old in that period with two coming against Chelsea and one of those was an attempted cross that looped into the far corner. It is now three goals and one assists against the Blues for White with Arteta very pleased by his performance.
He said: "I think I've said it many times about how I feel about Ben and not what he's done in the last few weeks but what he's done for us in the last few years.
"He's shown that in various contexts that he's a player that's going to give absolutely everything for the team, that he's always there. He's someone you can count on in any circumstances, and I think tonight he's done what he has to do."
Injury has significantly disrupted White's last 18 months with defensive signings also resulting in Jurrien Timber becoming Arteta's first-choice right-back. With Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori out injured, he switched flanks to accommodate White and that could be the plan going forward.
White gives Arsenal an added edge on the right that Timber, while perhaps a better footballer technically, does not. The Englishman is eager to hold the touchline and deliver pinpoint crosses after overlapping Saka.
Timber meanwhile, makes runs inside of Saka which often forces him to stay wide and be further away from goal. That could be an explanation for his lack of open-play goals over the last few years in comparison to the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaign.
A total of 35 goals were scored by Saka in the latter two seasons while he managed just 12 in the last campaign. A long-term injury certainly played a role in that, but he still notched 14 assists.
Having White behind Saka seemingly allows him to be closer to goal and it would have been a very open shot at goal on Wednesday night had he opted against freeing White.
When injuries aren't impacting him, Arteta has plenty of alternative options at full-back but the White and Timber combination could be the best if the ultimate goal is unleashing the former's skillset which in turn helps Saka.
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