All 5 of Arsenal’s fit loanees make starts in busy weekend | OneFootball

Five of Arsenal’s six loan players started for their respective clubs over the weekend, with only the injured Reiss Nelson missing out.

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Arsenal haven’t always had the best luck with loans in recent seasons, with many players going out in hopes of minutes only to find themselves on the bench for weeks on end.

With that context in mind, it was good to see all five of the club’s fit loanees starting over the weekend. Reiss Nelson missed out through injury, but the other five all made their team’s lineups.

Karl Hein was first up, playing for Real Valladolid away to Girona. The goalkeeper played 90 minutes and made four saves, though he’ll be disappointed that the hosts scored three goals anyway. Valladolid continue to struggle in La Liga, and this 3-0 defeat didn’t help.

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Charles Sagoe Jr. was in action next, on Saturday, making his first start under new manager Gareth Ainsworth at Shrewsbury Town.

It took over a month for the forward to get a chance with the new boss in charge, and Sagoe Jr. played 60 minutes of Shrewsbury’s 2-2 draw away to Wigan as they ended a run of three straight defeats.

Nuno Tavares started for Lazio later that day, with the team hoping to make amends after their 6-0 thrashing by Inter Milan earlier in the week. Tavares played 70 minutes as his team won 2-1 to stay in the top four.

Fabio Vieira was also in action on Saturday evening, performing well as Porto won 3-0 away to Moreirense. The midfielder seems to be in good form right now, and he created three chances including two big chances on this occasion.

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Finally, Albert Sambi Lokonga played for Sevilla away to Real Madrid on Sunday. It was Jesus Navas’ final game for the club, but the hosts ran out 4-2 victors, with Lokonga played 86 minutes.

It wasn’t a perfect weekend by any means, with two wins, one draw, and two defeats for Arsenal’s five loanees in action. There were no goals, assists, or clean sheets to mention either.

But if every weekend went like this, with all of Arsenal’s fit loanees making starts, there wouldn’t be much to complain about at the end of the season. Long may it continue.