Arsenal duo join Everton trio in Premier League’s worst XI of the weekend

Ian Watson
Aaron Ramsdale celebrates Arsenal's win over Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season.

Arsenal may have enjoyed a huge victory over Man Utd but two of their players didn’t cover themselves in glory. The worst XI also features a Wolves quartet and an Everton trio.

Here is the Premier League’s worst XI from the weekend, according to WhoScored ratings

 

GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 5.27
Dropping Christian Eriksen’s corner, allowing Lisandro Martinez to head Manchester United level, secured the No.1 spot for the Arsenal keeper. He made other vital saves, and might consider himself unfortunate since Jose Sa’s screw-up to gift Erling Haaland his hat-trick goal was entirely unforced. Sa scored 5.40, with Robert Sanchez the only other sub-six stopper.

 

RB: Seamus Coleman – 6.10
Both Everton full-backs feature here, though Coleman is unfortunate. The Toffees skipper was replaced at half-time after playing in a back five in the first period, but Frank Lampard’s side still couldn’t keep West Ham out. The first goal came down his side, but Coleman wasn’t culpable.

 

CB: Ben White – 6.03
White, filling in at centre-back here, was also hooked at half-time having struggled to shackle Marcus Rashford. A 19th-minute yellow card probably sealed his fate in Mikel Arteta’s mind but giving United the ball 10 times won’t have helped his cause either. A definite off-day in front of Gareth Southgate.

 

CB: Max Kilman – 5.59 
Kilman was booked even earlier than White, in the 10th minute, which made the job of dealing with Haaland much harder. Obviously Wolves never succeeded but Kilman wasn’t directly responsible. Haaland beat Nathan Collins in the air for his first; the second was a penalty; and Sa offered his third on a plate.

 

LB: Vitaliy Mykolenko – 5.94
Replaced at the break along with Coleman, with the left-back absent as West Ham built up down his flank ahead of Jarrod Bowen’s second goal. Though James Tarkowski didn’t cover himself in glory, either with a desperate lunge or his overall performance. Despite only playing 45 minutes, the Ukrainian still managed to lose possession 11 times.

 

CM: Ruben Neves – 5.82
City should have had a penalty in the first half when Collins kicked the back of Jack Grealish’s leg but VAR couldn’t come to Neves’ aid when he tripped Ilkay Gundogan early in the second half. The Wolves midfielder struggled to get into the game, as did his mate…

LM: Matheus Nunes – 5.99
Liverpool have been linked with both Neves and Nunes, but any watching Reds scout won’t have been impressed with either at the Etihad. The game passed Nunes by – hardly a crime against City, but the Portugal youngster needs to show more consistency if he wants to remain relevant to the big clubs.

 

RM: Demarai Gray – 5.95
Seemed to be in the mood early on but Gray faded badly as West Ham asserted their authority. The attacker lost possession 17 times with only one of his 12 crosses finding a team-mate. Gray succeeded with no dribble attempts and lost all five of his duels.

 

CF: Callum Wilson – 6.03
Wilson’s wait for a goal goes on, with the Newcastle striker now in his longest drought since he moved to Tyneside. Not since October 29 has he scored, a run of 10 games for Newcastle and England, and he never looked likely to end that barren spell against Palace, where he was replaced by Alexander Isak with 20 minutes remaining. Wilson might now be sweating over his place for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

 

RF: Adama Traore – 6.02
Julen Lopetegui replaced his entire front three at half-time at the Etihad with Hwang Hee-chan (6.03) arguably most anonymous. But Traore was hooked too along with Raul Jiminez (6.30), with the Spanish flyer managing fewest touches (13) while City forced him back and restricted opportunities for the counter-attack.

 

LF: Bryan Mbuemo – 5.98
At Elland Road, the Brentford striker offered almost nothing for 74 minutes before hooked by Thomas Frank. Mbeumo managed no shots; failed in his solitary dribble; saw his only attempted cross find a Leeds defender; and lost six of his nine duels. Lost possession as many times as he managed to find a team-mate with a pass – 11.

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