'It's strange' - Bukayo Saka's rare maturity impresses Mikel Arteta but Arsenal boss challenges forward to 'do more'

Saka struck twice as the Gunners made light work of their afternoon in Lancashire, putting five past their opponents for the third time in five games to keep their title challenge rolling. Saka extended his personal goalscoring streak to six in four, converting from the spot before slamming home his side's third much to the delight of his manager.

Asked in his post-match press conference about the maturity that has made Saka a senior player, Arteta replied: "Yes, we don't really see it, really. And especially forward players, wingers with that level of consistency and numbers at his age is something really strange to find. But it is not a coincidence when you look at him every single day – the way he trains, the way he applies himself, the qualities that he has and he can do more."

On Saka's recent trend of scoring right-footed goals the Arsenal boss shared: "We try to make our players unpredictable. I'm sure that opponents are looking at us and we have to find ways to create problems. He has this ability and he trains a lot in many different situations when he is in and around the box. Today he had two brilliant finishes again."

Saka has been a consistently productive member of the Arsenal team since breaking through to the first team as an 18-year-old just before Arteta returned to the club as manager in 2019.

Since then he has rarely missed a game for the club and has put up incredibly consistent numbers, and performances as Arsenal have returned to being title challengers once more.

A good day for Arsenal was rounded off when Champions Manchester City dropped points at home to Chelsea. The Gunners will be looking to take their fine form into Europe this week when they visit Porto in their first Champions League knockout tie since 2017.