‘Not too many in the game now’: Jermain Defoe says Arsenal ‘specialist’ has a rare quality

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Jermain Defoe has applauded Arsenal star Bukayo Saka for causing Tottenham Hotspur issues in the north London derby on Sunday.

Arsenal’s star man on the right helped open the scoring for Mikel Arteta’s side when he cut onto his left foot and his shot deflected off Cristian Romero and into the back of the net.

Former Premier League striker, Jermain Defoe, shared that Spurs, especially Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson, made a mistake by allowing Bukayo Saka to get ‘one-v-one’, with the duo following the overlapping run of Ben White, rather than the Arsenal man.

Either way, Defoe thinks that Bukayo Saka is a ‘specialist’ when it comes to one-v-one and he also feels that ‘there aren’t too many in the game now’, as he told Premier League Productions (25/09/23 at 5:10 pm).

After that early opening from the Gunners, it’s fair to say that Tottenham started to grow into the game, with Paul Merson impressed by how Destiny Udogie defended up against Arsenal’s star boy.

It was perhaps one of the battles of the north London derby, with Defoe sharing his thoughts.

Bukayo Saka in one-v-ones

“You have to speak in that situation (re Udogie and Brennan Johnson not stopping Saka), especially when someone like Saka gets into there,” said Defoe.

“We see it so many times when he comes inside and he finds that top corner. He is a one-v-one specialist. There’s not too many in the game now. When he gets into them areas, he is so difficult to stop when he comes inside.

“And when he does come inside, he seems to make the right decision.”

Another strong start from Saka

Last season, the 22-year-old produced the best season of his career after he scored 14 goals and supplied 11 assists.

Arsenal might have shot themselves in the foot in the Premier League title race, but it was an individual masterclass from the player.

And this season, he already has four goals and four assists to his name from eight games, including scoring his first Champions League goal last week.